Adam Sandler is an enigma of a man. Even as a self-confessed fan of his, I have to admit that for every Uncut Gems or Happy Gilmore there's a Jack & Jill or Pixels. Luckily he has been on top form for Netflix recently with You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah being very well received and now Leo joining that club.
Boasting a 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, Leo is a particularly sweet movie that has been conveniently released in time for the holidays. Sandler plays Leo, full name Leonardo, a classroom lizard who has been there and seen it all. He's happy to sit in the tank with his tortoise best friend Squirtle (Bill Burr, in his grumpy old man routine) all day, but a wake-up call makes him question his own mortality. With only a year left to live, he yearns to go and live in the wild, but then he starts to bond with the children in the class.
What follows is a super sweet story of Leo giving guidance to young children and helping to deal with their insecurities. It's funny but also has plenty of lessons for kids to learn from. Like the best Pixar movies of old, it has plenty of jokes for kids but also lots for grown-ups. I was particularly tickled by a drone that helicopter parents one of the kids excessively.
One element that I found slightly extraneous was the musical segments, but they're harmless enough and never distract from Leo's central story. In terms of the ideal audience age, the kids in the movie are around 11 years old and I would say that children of the same age (or similar) will take a lot from this flick.
Netflix is doing well for animated content at the moment, although most are for adult audiences. The new Scott Pilgrim animated series is superb, and it also added an animated show with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
