Leo
Adam Sandler has been impressively committed to animation, as demonstrated by Eight Crazy Nights, the Hotel Transylvania series, and now Leo. His particular brand of comedy lends itself well to the format. This latest effort casts him as a 74-year-old lizard. It makes a weird kind of sense, doesn’t it?
Leo is one of two “class pets” living inside a tank in a fifth-grade classroom. His tank-mate is a turtle named Squirtle (Bill Burr). Students take turns bringing Leo home for the weekend, during which time he reveals an ability to speak. More impressively, he perceives what each kid’s personal issue is and offers sound advice. When the mean new substitute teacher, Ms. Malkin (Cecily Strong), finds out about this, she becomes jealous of the lizard's influence and schemes to get rid of him.
The story in Leo is a bit on the repetitive side, as we watch him go home with several different children. Likewise, you can predict how the newly enlightened kids will put their differences aside so they can work together on a rescue mission. The film has little of the emotional depth of Inside Out or Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken, but it still offers a sweet message about the ability to overcome life’s hurdles.
Leo succeeds most fully on a comedic level. Sandler and Burr earn big laughs with their voice work. The former brings the sort of lovable goofiness that has been a hallmark of his career, while the latter is hilariously sarcastic as the eternally pessimistic turtle. Songs punctuate the story, with lyrics that are witty. One tune, which finds the students reminiscing about being seven, includes: ”When I was seven, I knew some dirty words but thought that babies come out of Mom’s butt.” (That concept should ring a bell with parents of small children.) The humor is goofy enough to delight kids yet sly enough to satisfy adults, as well.
Appealing humor combines with pleasing animation to make Leo a good family movie night selection. Sandler, who co-wrote the script with legendary comedy writer Robert Smigel, finds a nice mix of silly and sentimental this time around.
out of four
Leo is rated PG for rude/suggestive material and some language. The running time is 1 hour and 42 minutes.
