Title – Leo (2023) 

Directors – Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel & David Wachtenheim

Cast – (voices of) Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Rob Schneider

Plot – Ageing lizard Leo (Sandler) believes he only has a short time left on this planet and his determined to experience more of the world than what his enclosure in a high school terrarium has afforded him. 

“Well, that was really nice”

Review by Eddie on 05/12/2023

Things got off to a very bad start in the early collaboration journey between Adam Sandler and Netflix. 

After the initial, at the time industry breaking news, that one of Hollywood’s biggest comedic movie stars would be dealing exclusively with Netflix on most of his new projects, Sandler and the streaming service unleashed a collection of you wish they never saw the light of day films such as The Ridiculous 6, The D0-Over, Sandy Wexler and The Week Of but over recent years both Sandler and his partnership with Netflix have managed to right the wrongs of the past and deliver a collection of projects that are surprisingly good, with some even being downright great. 

Following up recent efforts such as Uncut Gems and Hustle, Sandler’s newest outing, the animated family film Leo, may not attempt to be anything more than a passing diversion but this fun and well-intentioned offering is a highly enjoyable ride that has a lot of fun with Sandler’s 74 year old school bound lizard who wants nothing more than to live his best life after coming to the realisation that he soon may shuffle off his mortal coil. 

Joined by fellow comedic collaborators such as Bill Burr, Rob Schneider and Jason Alexander, Sandler headlines a talented voice cast in bringing this familiar but fun tale to life and while the film suffers at times from trying to attach a musical angle to its story of finding ones place in the world and learning to find what you love to do, for the most part you can tell we have a film that had some passion behind it and far more effort put into it than many of Sandler’s early Netflix ventures. 

It appears based on the recent output of Sandler that he has started to care more for his projects outside of where they may afford him to holiday, which friends he can bring along for the ride or what pretty actresses he may smooch and Leo shows that same amount of care with Sandler dialling things way back and while not all of the jokes work, much like the mostly forgettable song numbers, there’s enough that does to suggest many will have a great time with Leo, and his pals, both human and animals. 

A nice piece of comfort food that neither surprises or lets you down, Leo is another solid little addition to the Netflix/Sandler story that helps right some of the wrongs that occurred in their early relationship, a period that struck fear into the hearts of cinema fans from across the globe. 

Final Say – 

Disney’s recent animated output could write some notes based off Leo’s simple mid-tier successes as Adam Sandler and Netflix help make this family orientated comedy a quickfire experience that never outstays its welcome and delivers entertainment of the most simply in nature. 

3 nervous skin shedding’s out of 5