'The Nut Job' Review Roundup: Will Arnett's Latest Comedy Another Dud

On Jan. 17 Open Road will release "The Nut Job" to terrible reviews.

The film tells the story of Surly, an independent squirrel who is banished from his park and forced to survive in the city. However, he luckily stumbles on the one thing that may be able to save his life, and the rest of park community, as they gear up for winter: Maury's Nut Store.

The movie currently has a 25 percent aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes and is looking to be yet another badly reviewed January film.

Bill Goodykoontz from the Arizona Republic wrote, "Arnett is a great comedic actor, an acidic wit. But here his Surly is just a selfish jerk. If there weren't some redemption involved, this wouldn't be a by-the-numbers animated feature. But it is, and there is, and it is wholly predictable."

Peter Debruge from Variety also disliked the movie and said, "'The Nut Job' comes up short compared with a film like 'Ratatouille,' which, despite its less-than-adorable rodents, won audiences over through appealing voicework and writing."

Alonso Duralde from the Wrap wrote, "Merely shrill and frantic, chock-full of uninspired characters and tedious wackiness"

Chris Packham from the Village Voice also gave the movie a bad review and wrote, "Good-natured and completely forgettable ..."

Chris Cabin from Slant Magazine gave the film one star out of four and wrote, "There's no personality in the design or the script, which only renders the cynical aftertaste of this convoluted one-squirrel-against the-world story all the more potent."

The film is directed by Peter Lepeniotis and is voiced by Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson, Stephen Lang, Sarah Gadon, and Maya Rudolph. The film will open in 3,427 theaters and is rated PG for mild action and rude humor.