REVIEW: ‘Leo’ Has A Surprising Amount Of Heart

Netflix expands its animation selection with Leo, directed by Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel, and David Wachtenheim and written by Smigel, Adam Sandler, and Paul Sado. It features Sandler, Bill Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Rob Schneider, Jo Koy, Sunny Sandler, and Jo Koy. In another Sandler project for the streaming platform, Sandler plays a chubby curmudgeon and jaded Jaded 74-year-old lizard Leonardo, who has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his terrarium-mate turtle (Bill Burr). When Ms. Salinas takes maternity leave, a new substitute steps in to teach their fifth-grade class, and the coming-of-age animated musical comedy through the eyes of a class pet takes off.

At first, Leo is living his life until he learns that lizards only live to be 75 years old. After trying to find out his age, Leo dedicates himself to escaping from the kids and heading to the Everglades to live out his last year of life in the wild. Only the substitute decides that every student needs to take the class pet home over the weekend and keep them alive. While he starts with escape on his mind, he instead ends up being a teacher for the kids, talking to them and working through them, getting caught up in the problems of his anxious students, and learning from the students, too.

Leo isn’t perfect by any means. The animation is standard, and the voice acting is extremely jarring at times, but despite its faults, the film’s heart is astoundly beautiful. As a curmudgeon lizard, Sandler’s voice is hit or miss, but the way that his character teaches the children to embrace parts of themselves is so incredibly wholesome and thoughtful that it outweighs any of its faults.

With Leo going home with multiple students, it would have been easy for the film to feel too stuffed with too many themes for fifth graders to learn, but instead, each interaction captures different elements of childhood with care. From grief to being spoiled and even being a bully to others, Leo surprisingly finds an adorable way to take on each problem. Even when Leonardo can’t help the kids with advice, he just listens and learns.

The film manages to build substantial relationships between Leo and the students and even him and Squirtle the Turtle. That said, the film’s musical takes, or more specifically Sandler’s take on singing, is on the cusp of being funny, but the voice he’s put on for Leo is a gimmick that runs dry more quickly when music is involved. With the other jokes and humorous moments in the film, the gags and observational comedy work mostly well when they lean into the wholesome. However, both Sandler and Burr seem to be incapable of picking an audience. While adult moments in animated children’s features are pretty commonplace, even in Disney Pixar films, here, it just feels off. Maybe it’s the personas that both comedians have built up, but the gaps between humor for the parents and the kids feel forced above all else.

Still, Leo‘s strength is its tender moments of empathy that stand out against everything else. A balance of sincerity and satire, Leonardo’s sweetness is expertly crafted. This makes those moments stand out against the musical numbers and awkward moments of adult comedy, but they are still fantastic and endearing nonetheless.

Narratively, Leo is about growth and learning how to live your life that you’re proud of, and sometimes that’s by helping others. It stumbles in parts, the voice acting is frustrating at times, the musical numbers overstay their welcome, and the target audience is somewhere between fifth graders and adults. Still, even with gripes and fully recognizing them, Leo is still filled with enough emotion to warrant a watch by yourself or with your kids. I don’t know how to explain it, but the heart shines through the formulaic nature.

Leo is streaming now, exclusively on Netflix.