''The Nut Job'' is a 2014
computer-animated
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...
heist comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Peter Lepeniotis
Peter Lepeniotis is a Canadian animator, film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his 2005 animated short ''Surly Squirrel''. He adapted the short into the full-length feature film, ''The Nut Job'', which Lepeniotis co-wrot ...
, who also wrote the film with Lorne Cameron. It stars the voices of
Will Arnett
William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular charact ...
,
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor known for his leading roles in blockbusters, comedies, and dramatic films. Having graduated from the Cornish College of the Arts in 1990, he made his film debut in '' ...
,
Liam Neeson
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...
,
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Marie Heigl ( ; born November 24, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model. She played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2010, a role tha ...
,
Stephen Lang
Stephen Lang (born July 11, 1952) is an American actor. He is known for roles in films including '' Manhunter'' (1986), '' Gettysburg'', '' Tombstone'' (both 1993), '' Gods and Generals'' (2003), '' Public Enemies'' (2009), ''Conan the Barbaria ...
,
Jeff Dunham
Jeffrey Douglas Dunham (born April 18, 1962) is an American ventriloquist, stand-up comedian and actor who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Comedy Central Presents'', ''The Tonigh ...
,
Gabriel Iglesias
Gabriel Jesús Iglesias (born July 15, 1976), also known as Fluffy, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He has produced a number of stand-up specials for television outlets such as Comedy Central and Netflix, including ''I'm Not Fat… ...
, and
Sarah Gadon
Sarah Lynn Gadon (born April 4, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She began her acting career guest-starring in a number of television series, such as ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1999), '' Mutant X'' (2002), and ''Dark Oracle'' (2004). She also ...
. The film is loosely based on Lepeniotis' 2005 short animated film ''Surly Squirrel''. Produced by Gulfstream Pictures, Redrover International and
ToonBox Entertainment
ToonBox Entertainment is a Canadian animation studio, founded in June 2008, and is best known for its 2014 animated feature and its first film, ''The Nut Job
''The Nut Job'' is a 2014 computer-animated heist comedy film directed by Peter L ...
,
it was released in the United States on January 17, 2014, by
Open Road Films
Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...
.
The film received negative reviews, but grossed $120.9 million worldwide against a production budget of $30 million.
A sequel titled ''
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature'' was released on August 11, 2017.
Plot
In October 1959 of the fictional town of Oakton City,
a squirrel named
Surly and his mute rat partner Buddy reside in Liberty Park where their thieving reputation has made them outcasts. A group of urban animals led by Raccoon and his cardinal assistant are running low on food for winter. Compassionate squirrel, Andie, and glory hogging squirrel, Grayson, compete with Surly and Buddy to scavenge from a nut cart run by Lucky and Fingers who are casing a bank. The squirrels' efforts inadvertently end with the cart's propane tank exploding in the park after its cord was bitten by Fingers' pug Precious. The runaway cart ends up destroying the animals' food supply, resulting in Surly's banishment from the park.
In the city, Surly and Buddy find Maury's Nut Shop. Adjacent to the bank, it is a criminal hideout used by Lucky, Fingers, their boss who was recently released from jail Percy "King" Dimpleweed, and Knuckles, who plan to break through the wall and replace the bank's cash with nuts. King's girlfriend Lana believes that King has gone straight after his release from prison and the nut store is legitimate.
Raccoon sends Andie and Grayson to the city to find food, but they get separated when a street rat approaches them. Andie recovers Fingers' dog whistle, which Knuckles threw out and Surly had used against Precious, and threatens to dispose of it if Surly does not share the nuts he is going to take. Surly accepts and unwittingly befriends Precious after threatening her with the whistle. Andie informs the park community of the plan. Raccoon reluctantly goes with the plan (though planning to deny Surly his share) and assigns Mole and the Bruisers to go with her. Surly confronts, interrogates, and eventually learns from Mole that Raccoon's policy is to control the food supply in order to remain as the park community's leader, and is planning on sabotaging the heist to do so. When Andie does not believe him, Surly storms off after Grayson reunites with them. While collecting the nuts, Surly is captured by King, but he gets freed by Lana since he doesn't have the whistle anymore and she finds out that King hasn't changed his criminal ways. She then leaves King.
After fending off street rats who work for Raccoon, Surly and Grayson chase the criminal gang's getaway truck, which carries Raccoon and the others. Surly fights off Cardinal and tosses him straight into a fancy cat show, and Mole defects from Raccoon and reveals the truth to the animals, resulting in Raccoon being voted out of the park community. King and Knuckles use the dynamite inside the empty truck to blow up a police barricade at a dam, but the police shoots the tire on the truck that falls from the dam. It explodes after Surly gets himself and Andie off it, causing the dam to collapse, a flash flood to happen, and everyone falling into the river below. Surly makes it to a log, but finds out that Raccoon, King, and Knuckles survived the explosion. Raccoon tries to kill Surly, but the nuts' & water's weight begins to break the log & push it over a waterfall. The animals arrive to rescue Surly, but Surly, deciding to be selfless in order to protect his friends, lets himself fall into the waterfall with Raccoon. Now seeing the good side of Surly, the park community mourns him as they go home on the river.
The nuts & the flood make their way to Liberty Park where King and his associates are arrested as Lana breaks up with King. Andie and Buddy are still mourning over Surly, and when Precious learns what happened, she has Buddy come look at an unconscious Surly, who wakes up and hugs Buddy. Afterward, Precious leaves to meet Lana, who plans to run Maury's Nut Shop. Finding Surly alive, Andie embraces him and suggests to tell the other animals of his heroism. However, Surly declines, yet gains a willingness to work with others, and goes into the city with Buddy, allowing Grayson to take credit for the nuts making it to the park.
In a
mid-credits scene
A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...
, Raccoon and Cardinal are revealed to still be alive and are plotting revenge, while stuck on a buoy in the ocean, surrounded by hungry sharks circling them.
Cast
*
Will Arnett
William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular charact ...
as
Surly, a purple squirrel and the main protagonist.
*
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor known for his leading roles in blockbusters, comedies, and dramatic films. Having graduated from the Cornish College of the Arts in 1990, he made his film debut in '' ...
as Grayson, a glory-hogging
eastern gray squirrel
The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodi ...
who has a false reputation for being the "park hero".
*
Gabriel Iglesias
Gabriel Jesús Iglesias (born July 15, 1976), also known as Fluffy, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He has produced a number of stand-up specials for television outlets such as Comedy Central and Netflix, including ''I'm Not Fat… ...
as Jimmy, a
groundhog
The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as a woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.
The groundhog is a lowland creature of North America; it is found through mu ...
and the leader of the Bruisers.
*
Jeff Dunham
Jeffrey Douglas Dunham (born April 18, 1962) is an American ventriloquist, stand-up comedian and actor who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Comedy Central Presents'', ''The Tonigh ...
as Mole, a clumsy
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America
* Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
who works for Raccoon and has eyes that are sensitive to light.
*
Liam Neeson
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...
as Norvirus Raccoon, a
raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
and the self-proclaimed, power-hungry, deceitful con-artist and leader of the park who banishes Surly from the same park. Raccoon's also known for his thirst for Surly's blood which later in the film terrorizes Andie due to her affections for Surly.
*
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Marie Heigl ( ; born November 24, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model. She played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2010, a role tha ...
as Andie, a compassionate and beautiful
American red squirrel
The American red squirrel (''Tamiasciurus hudsonicus'') is one of three species of tree squirrels currently classified in the genus ''Tamiasciurus'', known as the pine squirrels (the others are the Douglas squirrel, ''T. douglasii'', and the sou ...
who eventually becomes Surly's love interest.
*
Stephen Lang
Stephen Lang (born July 11, 1952) is an American actor. He is known for roles in films including '' Manhunter'' (1986), '' Gettysburg'', '' Tombstone'' (both 1993), '' Gods and Generals'' (2003), '' Public Enemies'' (2009), ''Conan the Barbaria ...
as Percy "King" Dimpleweed, a mob boss with a fear of vermin.
*
Sarah Gadon
Sarah Lynn Gadon (born April 4, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She began her acting career guest-starring in a number of television series, such as ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1999), '' Mutant X'' (2002), and ''Dark Oracle'' (2004). She also ...
as Lana, King's girlfriend, later ex-girlfriend.
*
Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''), and later played supporting roles in the films '' 50 First Dates'' ...
as Precious, a
pug
The Pug is a breed of dog originally from China, with physically distinctive features of a wrinkly, short-muzzled face and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, most often light brown (fawn) or blac ...
that is owned by Lucky and later Lana.
* James Rankin as Fingers, King's fellow criminal who helps Lucky run "Maury's Nut Shop".
*
Scott Yaphe as Lucky, the owner of the peanut cart, who is Precious' owner and King's associate.
*
Joe Pingue
Joe Pingue is a Canadian actor and film maker.
Early life
Pingue was born and raised in St. Catharines, Ontario. He attended Ridley College for both elementary and high school, and studied theatre at York University.
While attending Ridley Coll ...
as Johnny, a groundhog and a member of the Bruisers.
*
Annick Obonsawin
Annick Obonsawin (born October 12, 1983) is a First Nations Abenaki Canadian actress.
Biography
Obonsawin has played roles in many children's shows such as Inez in ''Cyberchase'' and Skunk in '' Franklin''. She also played Slappy the Dummy in ...
as Jamie, a small female groundhog and a member of the Bruisers.
*
Julie Lemieux
Julie Lemieux (born December 4, 1962) is a Canadian voice actress.
Career
Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino in '' Sailor Moon'', young Darien Shields in '' Sailor Moon R: The Movie'', and Peruru in '' Sailor Moo ...
as a
girl scout
Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...
that tries to buy nuts from Fingers and Lucky's nut cart.
*
Robert Tinkler
Robert Tinkler is a Canadian voice actor who provides voices for a number of cartoons and anime shows. He voiced Max in '' The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police'', Delete in the children's animated series ''Cyberchase'', Pelswick Eggert ...
as Buddy, a
rat and Surly's mute and incompetent partner-in-crime who does not talk much
** Robert Tinkler also voices Redline, a mouse who idolizes Grayson and whose catchphrase is "We're all gonna die!"
* James Kee voices an armored truck guard
** James Kee also voices a street rat.
*
Scott McCord
William Scott McCord is a Canadian actor. He is known for his versatility and character work in film, television, animation and on stage. He is a Lifetime Member of ''The Actors Studio''. On television he has appeared in series regular, recurri ...
as a police officer who tries to get Fingers and Lucky to show him a permit for their nut vending.
** Scott McCord also provides the voices of miscellaneous animals.
*
Katie Griffin
Katie Griffin (born January 14, 1973) is a Canadian actress and singer. She has had roles in several television movies and feature films. In cartoons, her best-known roles include the voices of Sailor Mars in the original English Canadian dub o ...
as a park
pigeon
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
Production
The film's concept originated as a 2005 short film titled ''Surly Squirrel''. A second short film, ''Nuts & Robbers'', was released as a teaser for ''The Nut Job.''
On January 17, 2011, it was announced that Lorne Cameron would write the screenplay for the film, along with
Peter Lepeniotis
Peter Lepeniotis is a Canadian animator, film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his 2005 animated short ''Surly Squirrel''. He adapted the short into the full-length feature film, ''The Nut Job'', which Lepeniotis co-wrot ...
. On November 15, 2012, it was announced that
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Marie Heigl ( ; born November 24, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model. She played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2010, a role tha ...
,
Will Arnett
William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular charact ...
and
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor known for his leading roles in blockbusters, comedies, and dramatic films. Having graduated from the Cornish College of the Arts in 1990, he made his film debut in '' ...
had joined the cast of the film, and on March 1, 2013, it was announced that
Liam Neeson
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...
has also joined. On December 19, 2013, it was announced that
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n entertainer
PSY
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...
makes a cameo appearance as himself during the film's ending credits, which also features his hit song "
Gangnam Style
"Gangnam Style" ( ko, 강남스타일, ) is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term ...
".
The film's production art was featured in a
Brampton, Ontario
Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...
exhibit.
Release
![KOCIS Korea President Park Culture Day Movie 03 (12312163533)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/KOCIS_Korea_President_Park_Culture_Day_Movie_03_%2812312163533%29.jpg)
The film was released in the United States on January 17, 2014, and distributed by
Open Road Films
Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...
. International distribution was handled by
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...
and
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
.
The first teaser trailer for the film was released on September 27, 2013. The film had its premiere at a
Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens i ...
theater in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
on January 11, 2014.
Home media
''The Nut Job'' was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
on April 15, 2014, by
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...
.
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 13%, based on 98 reviews, and an average score of 4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Hampered by an unlikable central character and source material stretched too thin to cover its brief running time, ''The Nut Job'' will provoke an allergic reaction in all but the least demanding moviegoers." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which calculates a normalized rating from reviews, the film has an average weighted score of 37 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film a "B" grade, on an A+ to F scale.
Peter Debruge of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote, "''The Nut Job'' comes up short compared with a film like ''Ratatouille'', which, despite its less-than-adorable rodents, won audiences over through appealing voicework and writing."
Alonso Duralde of ''
The Wrap
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' wrote, "''The Nut Job'' is merely shrill and frantic, chock-full of uninspired characters and tedious wackiness." Michael Rechtshaffen of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' wrote, "A whimsical period setting helps this 3D animated caper escape some overly familiar trappings."
Bill Goodykoontz of ''
The Arizona Republic
''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...
'' wrote, "Arnett is a great comedic actor, an acidic wit. But here his Surly is just a selfish jerk. If there weren't some redemption involved, this wouldn't be a by-the-numbers animated feature. But it is, and there is, and it is wholly predictable." Linda Barnard of the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' gave the film two out of four stars, saying, "If ''The Nut Job'' fails to connect through its characters it deserves praise for being a visually inspired effort, with clear homage paid to 1950s animation styles, especially Warner Bros. classics." Chris Cabin of ''
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' gave the film one out of four stars, saying, "There's no personality in the design or the script, which only renders the cynical aftertaste of this convoluted one-squirrel-against the-world story all the more potent." Jordan Hoffman of the New York ''
Daily News'' gave the film two out of five stars, saying, "The cartoon is stuffed with exhausting visual mayhem. Some jokes land, but most kids over 10 will roll their eyes."
Joe Williams of the ''
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-De ...
'' gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying, "The burnished backgrounds are pleasant to look at, but finding something to savor in the story is a tough nut to crack." Michael Phillips of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' gave the film one out of four stars, saying, "''The Nut Job'' fights its protagonist's own charmlessness from the first scene. Turning a dislikable leading character a little less dislikable by the end credits sets an awfully low bar for this sort of thing." Rafer Guzman of ''
Newsday
''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...
'' gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying, "The overall mood resembles a furry, nut-based version of Stanley Kubrick's ''
The Killing''." Peter Hartlaub of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'' gave the film two out of four stars, saying, "Someone spent a lot of time making the architecture and production design match the era. Grandparents getting dragged to ''The Nut Job'' will be appreciative." Annlee Ellingson of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote, "''The Nut Job'' features decent CG animation, especially of animals, but the writing isn't particularly clever, relying on obvious puns and slapstick humor." Stephanie Merry of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' gave the film two out of five stars, saying, "That feeling of been-there-done-that is pervasive, with many of the jokes sounding like they were ripped off from other movies." Kevin McFarland of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave the film an F, saying, "The most egregious problem with ''The Nut Job'' is how shamelessly it fills in the gaps left by expanding Lepeniotis’ short with generic and tedious rogue-to-hero cliché." Lou Lumenick of the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "The small-town setting of a half-century ago is beautifully animated by director Peter Lepenotis and his team, and there are some nicely staged old-school action sequences."
Scott Bowles of ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying, "When the story gets stale, the movie inserts a 'nuts' pun or, worse, resorts to a gas or burp joke. It doesn't work the first time, nor the fifth." Miriam Bale of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote, "''The Nut Job'' features muddy-colored and often ugly animation, a plot that feels too stretched out and loaded with details to hold the attention of most children, and more flatulence jokes than anyone deserves." Adam Nayman of ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' gave the film two out of four stars, saying, "Only a multilevel chase sequence involving Surly and some glowing-eyed street rats has any real kinetic excitement, and the supporting characters lack visual distinction." Bill Zwecker of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "The bottom line: Kids may be mildly amused by ''The Nut Job'', but adults accompanying them won't find much to capture their interest." Kimberley Jones of ''
The Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...
'' gave the film two out of five stars, saying, "The richly hued CG animation is quite nice – a mix of hyperdetailed character work and painterly cityscapes and pastorals – and the script putters along with small but regular amusements." Tom Russo of ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying, "The plot doesn’t take clever turns, the visual thrills aren’t all that thrilling, and you’re ultimately left to get your heist-movie kicks elsewhere." Joel Arnold of ''
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
'' wrote, "Once Surly and Buddy case the joint, develop a plan, and deal with the inevitable surprises, ''The Nut Job'' could be any classic caper flick."
Box office
''The Nut Job'' grossed over $64 million in North America, and over $56 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of over $120 million.
In North America, the film opened at number three in its first weekend, with $19,423,000, behind ''
Ride Along
A ride-along is an arrangement for a civilian to spend a shift in the passenger seat of an emergency vehicle, observing the work day of a police officer, firefighter, or paramedic.
Ride-alongs are offered by many police departments around the wor ...
'' and ''
Lone Survivor
''Lone Survivor'' is a 2013 American biographical war film based on the 2007 nonfiction book of the same name by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. Set during the war in Afghanistan, it dramatizes the unsuccessful United States Navy SEAL ...
''. It had the biggest opening weekend ever for an independent animated feature film.
In its second weekend, the film stayed at number three, grossing an additional $12 million. In its third weekend, the film dropped to number four, grossing over $7 million, and in its fourth weekend, the film dropped to number eight, grossing over 3 million.
Awards
''The Nut Job'' won the Audience Award for Best Children's Animation at the 2015 Anima: The Brussels Animation Film Festival.
The film was nominated for Best Sound Editing – Feature Film at the 2014
Directors Guild of Canada
The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assistant ...
Awards. Paul Hunter won for ''The Nut Job'' in the Best Editing in Animation category at the Canadian Cinema Editors Awards.
The French ATAA awarded the film Best Dubbing Adaptation for an Animated Film for 2015.
Soundtrack
The film's score was composed by Paul Intson. The soundtrack was released on January 17, 2014.
Sequel
On January 23, 2014, ''The Nut Job 2'' was announced, with an initial release date of January 15, 2016.
On April 11, 2016, the release date was pushed back to May 19, 2017. Will Arnett, Gabriel Iglesias, Jeff Dunham, Katherine Heigl and Maya Rudolph reprised their roles. The film details the park animals banding together to prevent a crooked mayor from bulldozing Liberty Park and replacing it with a dangerous amusement park. On May 25, 2016,
Heitor Pereira
Heitor Teixeira Pereira () (born November 29, 1960), or Heitor TP, is a Brazilian composer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and record producer. In his career, Pereira has recorded with the band Simply Red and several famous musicians, such as Elt ...
was hired to score the film. On July 5, 2016,
Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
joined the cast as territorial street mouse gang leader Mr. Feng.
In December 2016, the film was pushed back to August 11, 2017.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nut Job
2010s American animated films
2010s buddy comedy films
2010s children's comedy films
2014 3D films
2014 computer-animated films
2014 films
3D animated films
American 3D films
American buddy comedy films
American children's animated comedy films
American computer-animated films
American heist films
Animated buddy films
Animated films about friendship
Animated films about dogs
Animated films about squirrels
Films about raccoons
Animated films about rats
Animated films about mice
Canadian 3D films
Canadian animated feature films
Canadian computer-animated films
Canadian children's animated films
English-language Canadian films
English-language South Korean films
Features based on short films
Films directed by Peter Lepeniotis
Films set in 1959
Gulfstream Pictures films
Open Road Films animated films
South Korean 3D films
South Korean animated films
South Korean children's films
South Korean comedy films
2014 animated films
Canadian independent films
South Korean independent films
2014 comedy films
2010s English-language films
2010s Canadian films
2010s South Korean films