Leo

• Directed by Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel and David Wachtenheim (Marianetti and Wachtenheim’s Feature Directorial Debuts)
• November 21, 2023
• Netflix

Voice Cast

• Leo-Adam Sandler
• Squirtle-Bill Burr
• Mrs. Malkin-Cecily Strong
• Jayda’s Dad-Jason Alexander
• The Principal-Rob Schneider
• Mrs. Salinas-Allison Strong
• Coach Komura-Jo Koy
• Jayda-Sadie Sandler
• Summer-Sunny Sandler
• Jayda’s Mom-Jackie Sandler
• Eli’s Mom-Heidi Gardner
• Miniature horse, Drone, Old lizards #1 and #3-Robert Smigel
• Cinnabun-Nick Swardson
• Skyler’s Mom-Stephanie Hsu
• Anthony’s Dad-Nicholas Turturro

A lizard decides to escape from the terrarium of a Florida school classroom where he has been living for decades.

I am a fan of Adam Sandler. What he does, he does very well. His humor is juvenile but entertaining juvenile. It is similar to the style of Mel Brooks but is not poking fun at anything in an attempt to comment on something unlike Brooks’ work.

I can’t call Leo bad. And I can’t call it great either. To be honest it’s just kind of mid-tier. It’s an Adam Sandler attempt at family friendly humor with much of the trademark Adam Sandler humor. It works but not as well as Bedtime Stories did for example. And I think that might be the only other attempt he has made at family friendly.

The story focuses on Leo who is a 74-year-old lizard afraid he’s going to die and upset that he’s lived his whole life as a class pet in an elementary school. Unbeknownst to the world at large at the minimum Leo and his turtle friend Squirtle can talk beyond talking to other animals. I’m really not sure if that gift extends to the other class pets which includes a rabbit named Cinnabun and some other creatures.

Leo sees his chance when a substitute teach takes over and implements some changes such as a program where one of them takes home Leo over the weekend. He decides to try and escape but screws up and reveals to his initial caretaker Summer that he can talk. This begins a regular chain of events where he talks to the assorted students and helps them out with their life problems with sage advice gathered over many years of observation.

The problem is they spend too much time with too many kids. Those little vignettes are not enough to get you invested in each of their stories but are enough to tease you to the point you could start getting invested in their stories. There are so many kids with so many problems overcome that it makes things a little repetitive. We know it happens and we know how it happens. If they kept it at three we wouldn’t need anything further to drive the point home. The rest could simply be hinted at with nothing actually shown. I think you only needed three or so two make it clear what the scenario was that Leo was engaging in. He tells each one they are the only one that can hear him, and he offers some advice and helps them all grow.

Why was the turtle never taken home? Seriously. It doesn’t appear that Squirtle gets taken home until later in the movie when apparently it’s switched off to the next pet. Why? I am absolutely not following that logic other than to create an excuse for Squirtle to get jealous and screw the hooch later on before he comes in and helps to save the day. And nobody gets mad at Squirtle over what he did.

The idea self isn’t bad. Leo is facing his mortality having overheard someone say that his particular breed of lizard only lives about 75 or so and he’s 74. Leo thinks the place he wants to be is out in the wild but end by the end he realizes that the place he wants to be is at that school helping kids. Pretty standard plot that can provide some heartwarming stuff.

There are several songs, but maybe one real musical number and that’s meant as a parody of musical numbers from the looks of it. The songs are okay but not great and they’re short little things that don’t give you enough time to really enjoy them. They MIGHT be funny but we do not get enough to decide.

The animation is good on the close-ups, but when they pull the camera out. I’m guessing that has to do with budgetary reasons since this is a CGI project. It never looks terrible, but it looks much better when the shots are close up. Back from the characters things look a bit washed.

I can’t say I was completely disappointed but I wasn’t bowled over. Leo had some good jokes like the drone that got depressed when the boy put his foot down to get some space. I liked the chaos at the birthday party when all the animals got released. It just does not push things as far as it could or should. For a Sandler offering the humor is rather safe.

Leo is an adequate animated movie from Adam Sandler. Not a surprise but adequate. If you’re looking for something to watch with your kids, this is a good choice but if you’re looking for something to watch yourself stick with the classics like Happy Gilmore or The Waterboy.