The Nut Job $$$
PG
85 Minutes
Starring: Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson, and
Katherine Heigl.
Director: Peter
Lepeniotis.
Since the first time I saw the
trailer for this film, I have anxiously waited my chance to watch it in the
theaters. What a concept, a twisted take on heist movies with animals looking
to score big at a nut store. That’s my kind of movie.
Surly (Will Arnett) the squirrel is
an outsider. He and his rat pal, Buddy (Rob Tinkler), operate separate from the
rest of the park community. This means that most of the time they are competing
for the same food. Case in point, while Surly and Buddy attempt to rob a nut
vendor in the park, Andie (Katherine Heigl) and Grayson (Brendan Fraser) hope
to do the same to help restore the food reserves for the rest of the animals in
the park. Surly refuses to cooperate in a joint mission where both will
benefit. Disaster results and Surly is banished to the city.
All
is not lost though, Surly soon stumbles across the nut shop and the plans for a
grand heist begins to take shape.
The
Nut Job bags enough jokes in its 85 minutes to really crack you up.
Unfortunately, it fell short of the family classic mark. I think the complex
plot and characterization is out of place in an animated feature like this.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but I’m not sure everyone will get as big a
kick out of it as I did. This is how I rated it.
1. Fun – It’s a
nutty heist movie. That’s fun. There is plenty of slapstick to generate laughs.
However, Surly is quite—surly. He is a very unlikable character and that
detracts from the light-hearted story that this should be. I gave it only half
a MB for fun.
2. Story –
Personally, I like the story. There is character development. There is an
amazing array of motives among the cast. In fact, there is too much for a
family movie. I feel that what would have been a tremendous plus in a story
with adult themes is a drawback here. And I feel that it was a little too
predictable. It earns only half a MB for
story.
3. Technical – It
hits all the right notes on the technical side. Good animation. Good audio
production. While it probably won’t win any awards in this are it was a very
solid effort. I give it a full MB for the technical.
4. Acting – This is
the high
point
I expect that kids will enjoy the
movie. They probably won’t care that the plot is overly complex for a family
film. Then again, I could be wrong. Frozen
out performed it at the box office last week and getting beat by a movie that’s
been out for nearly three months is not a good thing. The Nut Job scores 3 Movie Bucks from me.
Randy’s
Rating System
$$$$ =
Full Price See this movie right away
and pay full price, it’s worth it.
$$$ =
Matinee Catch this as a matinee or
other discounted showing.
$$ =
Discount Wait until this movie reaches
a discount theater near you.
$ =
Rental Wait until this movie
reaches your local video rental outlet.
0 =
No Sale Don’t
see this movie at any price.
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