The Nut Job review

Hungry, hungry squirrel...

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A big-city squirrel plans a nut-shop heist in a frenetic animation that does a fair bit of stealing itself from Ice Age , Ratatouille and Over The Hedge . Shame that Peter Lepeniotis’ film – based on an earlier, far superior short – doesn’t lift more of their charm; his yarn makes as little of its furry leads as it does of its ’50s setting.

Will Arnett voices the aptly titled Surly, an abrasive rodent whose scam derails another, human plot to rob a bank. It’s all pretty pointless, rather like the toon-ified Psy who accompanies the credits. Wouldn’t Marc Almond have been more appropriate?

Neil Smith
Freelance Writer

Neil Smith is a freelance film critic and writer who contributes regularly to Heat, SFX and Screen International. He's a long-time member of the London Film Critics’ Circle and was a contributing editor at Total Film for many years.