Kid-Sight: The Nut Job Movie Review

Parent note: This is a kid friendly review written in simpler language to help explain the movie to children. The purpose is to give a general idea of the movie to help children predict what is happening in the ‘big picture’ of the story. This review also provides some hints about the sensory and storyline content of the movie, as well as some helpful hints for older viewers.
The Nut Job – 2014

Storyline:
Surly is a squirrel who is used to taking care of himself and being alone. The only friend Surly seems to have is a rat named, Buddy. The other animals in the park are trying to save up food for winter. Surly doesn’t want to help the other animals collect food. He’s trying to find food on his own, but an accident causes all the other animals to lose their food. Raccoon is the leader of the other animals. He sends a girl squirrel named Andi and a silly squirrel named Grayson to gather more food. Surly and Andi make an agreement to help each other find food, but Surly doesn’t plan to keep his promise. At first he is selfish and only wants the food for himself. But as he gets to know Andi better, he begins to change his mind. Then Surly finds out Raccoon is making some bad choices for the other animals and tries to stop him. The animals don’t believe Surly at first because Surly wasn’t nice in the beginning, but then the truth about Raccoon comes out and Surly has to try to save the animals from Raccoon.

ALSO SEE: Sensory Sensitive Summer Movies for more details.

Sensory Tips:
This movie has a fast pace with lots of scene shifts. There are episodes of louder sounds and fast movement but it appears typical for most animated action movies.

Storyline Complexity:
The story has a moderately complex storyline. The main storyline is about Surly and Andi trying to gather food. Surly for himself and Andi for the park animals. The storyline can be more complex due to the fact that Surly is not very nice in the beginning.

A secondary storyline is about some bank robbers who own a nut shop in town. This nut shop is the place Andi and Surly find to gather food for the park animals.
Another storyline is Raccoon’s betrayal of the park animals. This storyline doesn’t come out until about ¾ of the way through the movie.

Hints for Older kids:

1. People (or in this case animals) change. Surly begins the movie as a very selfish squirrel and by the end he is willing to give his life for his friends. Can you find little ways in which he starts to be kind? It is a gradual change we see.
2. What are some ways the other animals, especially Buddy and Andi, show kindness to Surly – even when he isn’t kind to them?

Kid-Sight: The Nut Job Movie Review
Pepper Basham, MS, CCC-SLP