The Nut Job (I) (2014)

An incorrigibly self-serving exiled squirrel finds himself helping his former park brethren raid a nut store to survive, that is also the front for a human gang's bank robbery.

Director:

Peter Lepeniotis

Writers:

Lorne Cameron (screenplay), Peter Lepeniotis,

Stars:

Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Will Arnett	...	Surly (voice)
Brendan Fraser	...	Grayson (voice)
Liam Neeson	...	Raccoon (voice)
Katherine Heigl	...	Andie (voice)
Stephen Lang	...	King (voice)
Maya Rudolph	...	Precious (voice)
Jeff Dunham	...	Mole (voice)
Gabriel Iglesias	...	Jimmy (voice)
Sarah Gadon	...	Lana (voice)
James Rankin	...	Fingers (voice)
Scott Yaphe	...	Lucky (voice)
Joe Pingue	...	Johnny (voice)
Annick Obonsawin	...	Jamie (voice)
Julie Lemieux	...	Girl Scout (voice)
Robert Tinkler	...	Redline / Buddy (voice) (as Rob Tinkler)

Storyline

In a city park, Surly the Squirrel has finally gone too far with his latest caper leading to the animal community's winter food cache being destroyed. Now exiled, Surly and his rat buddy's, Buddy, collective nightmare on the streets ends when they discover a nut store to raid. Meanwhile, the squirrels, the heroic Andie and the ditsy Grayson, are charged by Raccoon to find a new food source and Andie runs into Surly. With no other options, she arranges a deal to help in Surly's heist for the colony, even while Surly fully intends to betray it. However, there is more going on with the nut store being a front for bank robbers while Raccoon has his own agenda to ensure his own power. In the mayhem to come, Surly finds himself challenged in ways he never expected and discovering the real prize to treasure in this adventure.

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Plot Keywords:

squirrel | raccoon | bank robbery | rat | heist | 

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Taglines:

Let's Get Nuts!

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

Canada South Korea USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 2014 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Opération noisettes

Box Office

Budget:

$42,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$25,700,000 (USA) (17 January 2014)

Gross:

$64,238,770 (USA) (2 May 2014)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gulfstream Pictures, Red Rover International, ToonBox Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Surly Squirrel (2005), the original short film about of the rivalry between Raccoon & his followers against Surly & Buddy, Raccoon's team are depicted as the "good" side. In this feature length remake, this is reversed.

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Goofs

The dog whistle is treated like it's painful for the dog to hear, but not any other of animals. Actually, a dog whistle would be just as painful for the squirrels to hear, because their hearing range is within the frequency of a dog whistle.

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Quotes

Surly: It's not going to be easy but we're talkin' almonds, pistachios, walnuts and did I mention the peanut brittle?
Jimmy: Whoa, is that a nut, or a candy?
Surly: [laughs] Both.

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Crazy Credits

Halfway through the end credits there is a scene with the Raccoon sitting on a buoy

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Connections

Followed by The Nut Job 2 (2016)

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Soundtracks

Fish Out of Water
Performed by Leo Soul
Written by Mansa Wakili, Colton Fisher, Jason Rabinowitz
Courtesy of Bridge Compositions

User Reviews

Funny in a Squirrelly Kind of Way

This movie is pretty cool. It is funny and has a good amount of action. It is really good and I think you would like it too.

This movie is all about a squirrel named Surly who, at the beginning, fends for himself and only himself (with his friend Buddy) until his actions contribute to the burning of the large tree where all the squirrels live, along with what little food they have left. He is banished to the city and soon finds a shop full of nuts. He makes a deal with another squirrel named Andie that he would get half and they would get half. They run into a lot of obstacles such as mouse traps, rats, guns and people.

The main characters in the movie are Surly (Will Arnett), King (Stephen Lang), Grayson (Brendan Fraser), Raccoon (Liam Neeson), Andie (Katherine Heigl) and Precious (Maya Rudolph). My favorite character in this movie is Precious because she is such a funny dog and helps Surly and loves him after a while. She is also really funny.

My favorite part in the movie is when Surly and Buddy meets Precious because, as I said she is my favorite character, and she is so funny. She thinks she has to hate the squirrels because her owners don't want animals in their shop but she soon realizes she loves them. She starts showing them tricks likes fetching, playing dead, sitting and she thinks that her tail is amazing because it wiggles a lot. She says it has a mind of its own!

I give this movie 5 out of 5 stars and recommend this movie for ages 4 to 10 because it is really suitable for a younger audience. I think younger kids will really love it.

Reviewed by Anthony A, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews go to kidsfirst dot org.