The Nut Job (2014)
Certified: U
Duration: 85 minutes
Directed by: Peter Lepeniotis
Voices of: Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Katherine Heigl, Stephen Lang, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Dunham, Gabriel Iglesias, Sarah Gadon, James Rankin
KRS Releasing Ltd
Raccoon (Liam Neeson), the animal leader, and his assistant Mole (Jeff Dunham) check their food storage inside the oak tree in Liberty Park. Raccoon realises there is not enough food to get by through the upcoming winter, so he gives an order to two squirrels to go out and forage for supplies.
The two squirrels are Grayson (Brendan Fraser), who is as flamboyant and over-the-top as can be, and Andie (Katherine Heigl) who always plays it by the book. They are to beware of Surly (Will Arnett), another squirrel who is very selfish. Their mission is to rob the vendor cart that lies on the outskirts of the park.
Surly and his inane friend Buddy (Robert Tinkler) are competing with them for this cart. In an act that also involves a hyperkinetic pug called Precious (Maya Rudolph), all animals end up mixed up and the tree in which the food was stored is destroyed.
Surly’s punishment is banishment and he and Buddy thus go to the city. Here they find the solution to their stomach woes: a nut shop. However, the King (Stephen Lang), a gangster who has just been released from prison, and his gang – that includes Fingers (James Rankin), Precious’s owner – are using the shop to dig a tunnel that will lead them to the bank located in front of the shop.
Meanwhile, Andie, Grayson and two groundhogs called Jimmy and Johnny (Gabriel Iglesias and Joe Pingue) are also on the way to rob the nuts in the nut shop!
Director Peter Lepeniotis, who has already worked with Disney and Pixar, here takes a page out of the DreamWorks handbook and delivers a movie that is in the same vein as Over the Hedge (2006). Besides, the two share the same screenwriter – Lorne Cameron.
This picture is very much like its characters: chirpy and fun without being pretentious
The Nut Job is colourful, bright, energetic and hilarious in the right manner and turns out to be quite an entertaining screwball comedy for children. It has a wacky feel to it, with all kinds of slapstick routine and careening sequences designed to razzle and dazzle the young ones.
The template for the film is well tried and tested but the production has managed to inject interesting characters into the story. There are also plot twists that give it an added dimension.
The film is also hilarious with its no-holds-barred kind of comedy. Its tangible energy is more akin to the Looney Toons than anything else one finds in the genre.
As for the voicing, Heigl delivers a feisty performance while Neeson is suitably gravely. Arnett coasts by as he seems not to have a care in the world. But it is Rudolph who stands out as she is immensely characterful.
Mixing heist movies with the talking animal genre, this picture is very much like its characters: chirpy and fun without being pretentious.
Another unusual factor is the 1950s setting which gives the picture an alternative look to other movies of the genre. This is complemented by detailed artwork for the characters which defines their look and landscapes of the city that give The Nut Job a sense of depth.