The Nut Job (2014)

An incorrigibly self-serving exiled squirrel finds himself helping his former park brethren survive by raiding a nut store, a location that also happens to be a front for a human gang's bank robbery.

Director:

Peter Lepeniotis

Writers:

Peter Lepeniotis, Lorne Cameron

Stars:

Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson

1 win & 5 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) (as Annick Obonswin)
Julie Lemieux	...	Girl Scout (voice)
Rob Tinkler	...	Redline / Buddy (voice)

Storyline

In a city park, Surly the Squirrel has finally gone too far with his latest caper . Now exiled, Surly and his rat buddy Buddy's collective nightmare on the streets ends when they discover a nut store to raid. 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:

raccoon | squirrel | bank robbery | heist | rat | 

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Taglines:

No Nuts No Glory

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild action and rude humor

Did You Know?

Trivia

Will Arnett's 7th animated film, after Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ratatouille (2007), Horton Hears a Who! (2008), Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), Despicable Me (2010), and the English version of The Secret World of Arrietty (2010).

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Goofs

The film is set in the late fifties, yet there's 1970-circa checker taxis driving around.

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Quotes

Surly: Buddy, we found it! The lost city of Nutlantis!

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Crazy Credits

Halfway through the end credits there is a scene with the Raccoon sitting on a buoy near Sydney, Australia, surrounded by sharks.

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Alternate Versions

On the Nickelodeon/Nick@Nite (U.S.) airings, the entire end credits sequence (complete with a mid-credit scene and post-credits animation) is omitted in favor of the network's on-screen credits over the ending scene.

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Connections

References The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

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Soundtracks

Fish Out of Water
Performed by Leo Soul
Written by Chief WaKil (as Mansa Wakili), Cheapshot (as Colton Fisher), and Jason Rabinowitz
Courtesy of Bridge Compositions

User Reviews

Nice work, animators!

The Nut Job looks fantastic. Try to ignore the trailer, and if possible, the inconsistent soundtrack, too. Pay attention to the subtle nod to the 50's, present in all the background details: The rooms, the cars, the human characters. It looks great. The attention to visual detail is spot on. So kudos to the people in charge of making this look the way it does.

The story itself has promise: A nut heist that runs concurrently with a bank heist, the squirrel storyline paralleling the human one. As you can imagine, there are cheap jokes and nut puns a plenty, but at least the younger children in the theatre will be entertained. Any flaws present in the Nut Job have nothing to do with the way it looks. And if anything, that's what saves it.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Canada South Korea USA

Language:

English Dutch

Release Date:

17 January 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Nut Job

Box Office

Budget:

$42,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,423,000, 19 January 2014

Gross USA:

$64,251,541

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$120,885,527

Company Credits

Production Co:

Endgame Entertainment, Gulfstream Pictures, Open Road Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS Dolby Surround 7.1 Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1