The Nut Job ** (voices Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Brendan Fraser) – Movie Review

Raccoon (voice of Liam Neeson) has ordered squirrels – the heroic Andie (Katherine Heigl) and the ditsy Grayson (Brendan Fraser) – to find a new food source. Andie runs into selfish maverick Surly the Squirrel (Will Arnett) and they make a deal for him to help his former park buddies raid a nut shop that turns out to be the front for a human gang’s bank robbery.

Set in 50s America suburbia, co-writer/director Peter Lepeniotis’s animated caper is mild, harmless family entertainment if not in any way outstanding, With the story, visuals and characters on the bland and over-familiar side, it’s up to the star voice artists to liven things up, which they do, particularly Maya Rudolph’s Precious.

The heist movie parody idea shows how the film goes down. The idea’s derivative, so they’d need a new fresh spin on it and have to push it wittily for big laughs. Instead, it’s underwhelmingly conceived and lamely developed. Then again, character-wise, the squirrel Surly starts as an incorrigibly self-serving outcast but comes through in the end to save his fellow creatures from the bad guys among the humans and animals. You’ve been expecting this from the beginning, so there are none of the surprises, quirks and unique rough edges here that make for a truly charming animated adventure.

The Nut Job is better for young kids than adults, who won’t find too much to go nuts about.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Movie Review

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