The Nut Job

2014 • 85 minutes
3.9
3.11K reviews
13%
Tomatometer
PG
Rating
Eligible
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About this movie

It's time to go nuts for this action-packed comedy featuring the all-star talents of Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Gabriel Iglesias, Jeff Dunham, Liam Neeson, Maya Rudolph and Katherine Heigl. Surly (Will Arnett) is a mischievous squirrel with a mission: to find the tastiest nuts for winter. When he discovers a whole store filled with his favorite food, he plans a heist of nutrageous proportions. But the place turns out to be owned by ruthless bank robbers, so it's up to Surly and his furry friends to stop the nearby bank heist and save the town. The fur is sure to fly in this hilarious adventure that critics are calling "Funny and witty! For kids of all ages!" (Jeffrey Lyons, Lyons Den Radio, WCBS)
Rating
PG

Ratings and reviews

3.9
3.11K reviews
Kyle Vansteelandt
April 2, 2020
Here is what best describes this animated film: A decently interesting enterprise that failed as an attempt to be a fun simple inviting family film. I did laugh several times, due to the wacky screenplay for it's cartoony visuals, timing, and some of the voice acting. They are sharp and funny, but not witty or even hilarious. I also laughed at a few melodramatic moments of cartoony voice acting, but that kind of humor is immature, stupid, and forgettable. And even the parts that I laughed at are forgettable, because of how these funny moments end in a millisecond. Most of all, The fart jokes, the humorous lines, the slapstick, and most of the voice acting are all unfunny, However, I probably don't see those fart moments as jokes, their are probably logical reasons why the farts are used for something else. The film cannot escape the shadow of a very good animated family comedy called "over the hedge' as it's premise and elements are pretty similar. Using Brendan Fraser in the cast of "voice actors" is definitely not a good idea, because he is really into the cartoony style and it gets out of hand when he did the voice of Grayson. Jeff Dunham has a higher quality and he is somewhat amusing as the mole, but their is not much to say about it at all. Most of the actors were a good choice. Will Arnett is a good example of a moody, confident, serious character. Katherine Heigl did a very good job voicing Andie, she sounds serious but also very caring. Maya Rudolph was cute and amusing as Precious the pug. And Liam Neeson was the correct choice for the villainous raccoon. The biggest problem I had for this film is that there are not many characters to be consider a positive role model, particularly Surly (the main character). Surly is very arrogant, self-aware, rude, and does not have a "friend" side as he consistently puts all the other animals aside to take all the nuts to the park for the winter. Grayson is a cocky, boisterous, obnoxious loud-mouth who is trying to be heroic, not to mention that Grayson is not that funny most of the entire time. I did not care for the characters that much which is unfortunate, because their is not much character development in almost all of them, they are just your typical average cartoony characters that are looney and wacky with almost very little welcome within their souls. The only character that is very interesting is the raccoon voiced by Liam Neeson, he is intimidating bandit that is cunning in a deceitful way. Raccoons can be a good choice for an animated villain because of their appearance that gives them a nickname, called "masked bandit," they also have human like fingers that can grab, they have clever intelligence, and they are infamous thieves, And every time when the raccoon pops up on screen, things get very interesting. The solid music score is composed by Paul Intson, and his score really does a good job focusing on the storytelling. The animation is very bright and colorful and even has very nice detail. The character designs may not be innovative or first-rate, but the characters are very expressive in a good way, and when the fur gets wet, it looks so realistic, and sometimes (as I said before) the visuals did provide some sharp comedy, but again: not that funny. The whole film is not actually immature, but the film does not have the ambition in it's entertainment value and it does not have it's "welcome" either. There are much better animated films out there that are considered to be true animated films for the whole family. Not recommended for any child and adult. Skip it.
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Stephen Jacewicz
June 26, 2020
2 and a half I'm thinking maybe getting closer to 3 or 3. The Nut Job is ok. It has unesscary gross humor, but it does have good jokes and some good animated action. The animation isn't too special but it's well, fun I guess.
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Brandon Cruz
April 13, 2014
For an independent movie it's pretty good. It's just got more things to make kids laugh than adults, which is a problem cause almost every single animated movie nowadays panders, at least subtly, to adults, if they want to be good. . But that detail considered, it's good if you're looking to smile and entertain your kids.
16 people found this review helpful
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