The Nut Job (D or 1/4 stars)
'The Nut Job' (directed by Peter Lepeniotis) is a hair-brained animated comedy which follows the inhabitants of Oakton city park. With a frigid winter approaching, the hungry creatures in said park are facing a severe shortage of nuts after Surly (voiced by Will Arnett), a rather lonely squirrel, sets fire to a massive oak tree that holds their winter stockpile. Kicked out of his home, exiled from the park, & banished to the big city, selfish Surly stumbles upon Maury's Nut Shop. Salivating over the prospect of a bottomless supply of peanuts, hazelnuts, cashews, almonds, & even peanut brittle ... he & his rat pal, Buddy, figure that if he can steal these nuts from the basement, which he describes as 'the lost city of Nutlantis', he'll hopefully be back in his community's good graces.
But there's a problem: some human thieves, who are simultaneously planning a bank heist, have their sights set on tunneling into the same basement location; which is guarded by a frisky pug named Precious (Maya Rudolph). All the while, 2 other squirrels, egotistic Grayson (Brandon Fraser) & upstanding Andie (Katherine Heigl ... how appropos that an actress I loathe is in a movie I don't like) have been sent out of their city to search for food, while the rest of the park's famished animals function under the leadership of Raccoon (Liam Neeson, haha) with the aid of his lackey Mole (Jeff Dunham). More heists enter the fray and craziness ensues.
Yyyyyeah, so, this movie stinks. Perhaps some kiddies will find it cute and/or laugh at the various burping & farting jokes, but I sure didn't. It's as if the filmmakers figured that the novelty of talking animals + lowbrow potty humor = success. WRONG. The story lacks personality. Most of the humor in the script is full of cringe-inducing slapstick & misfired puns. As for the actual CGI animation? It's okay; but far from good. The pacing? Even at 86 minutes in length, most of it felt overstretched. The build-up to the 2 heists, the execution of the heists ... all wind up being a big. fat. no. one. cares. The only thing I remotely liked about the proceedings was the positive message about what it means to be a part of a community. But that's the only truly positive thing I can muster to talk about.
Let's see. What else? Oh. Though the film is marketed for pre-school children, there are quite a few stretches with startling gun violence which made me cock my head sideways in confusion. Pre-school kids don't need to be seeing that in a squirrel flick called 'The Nut Job'. Furthermore, words like 'stupid' & 'moron' are uttered by characters; words that kids hear and just LOVE to spew back -- rggghh. 'The Nut Job' is irritating, unsophisticated, forgettable, & disappointing. No re-writes could have saved it. I should just stop now because I could just go on & on with my strong dislikes of this movie. What a shame.
But there's a problem: some human thieves, who are simultaneously planning a bank heist, have their sights set on tunneling into the same basement location; which is guarded by a frisky pug named Precious (Maya Rudolph). All the while, 2 other squirrels, egotistic Grayson (Brandon Fraser) & upstanding Andie (Katherine Heigl ... how appropos that an actress I loathe is in a movie I don't like) have been sent out of their city to search for food, while the rest of the park's famished animals function under the leadership of Raccoon (Liam Neeson, haha) with the aid of his lackey Mole (Jeff Dunham). More heists enter the fray and craziness ensues.
Yyyyyeah, so, this movie stinks. Perhaps some kiddies will find it cute and/or laugh at the various burping & farting jokes, but I sure didn't. It's as if the filmmakers figured that the novelty of talking animals + lowbrow potty humor = success. WRONG. The story lacks personality. Most of the humor in the script is full of cringe-inducing slapstick & misfired puns. As for the actual CGI animation? It's okay; but far from good. The pacing? Even at 86 minutes in length, most of it felt overstretched. The build-up to the 2 heists, the execution of the heists ... all wind up being a big. fat. no. one. cares. The only thing I remotely liked about the proceedings was the positive message about what it means to be a part of a community. But that's the only truly positive thing I can muster to talk about.
Let's see. What else? Oh. Though the film is marketed for pre-school children, there are quite a few stretches with startling gun violence which made me cock my head sideways in confusion. Pre-school kids don't need to be seeing that in a squirrel flick called 'The Nut Job'. Furthermore, words like 'stupid' & 'moron' are uttered by characters; words that kids hear and just LOVE to spew back -- rggghh. 'The Nut Job' is irritating, unsophisticated, forgettable, & disappointing. No re-writes could have saved it. I should just stop now because I could just go on & on with my strong dislikes of this movie. What a shame.