The Nut Job essentially feels like a relic; one of those lazy animated movies thrown together at double speed to compete with genuine efforts from Pixar or Dreamworks, lacking any of the shine or polish necessary to mark it out as memorable in any way, shape or form. These types of animated movies are still being made, sadly, a point proven by the very existence of this dull and unamusing film about a squirrel who plans a "nut heist." Presumably commissioned based on the strength of the pun in its title alone, it's the sort of muddy affair even kids will hate. Which is another way of saying that, thanks to its predictable gags (there are many a fart joke, people), tedious narrative pacing and - quite frankly - deplorable main character (voiced by Arrested Development's otherwise talented Will Arnett), a trip to see this thing will have both parent and child alike thinking of new ways to spend quality time together. Bizarrely, there seems to be some twisted moral message about dictatorship embedded in the movie, assumedly as a result of it having been funded partly by South Korean money. It's all very, very odd.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
