'Leo' Review: Adam Sandler's Silly Voice Finds Warmth and Reflection as an Old Grade School Lizard
PG: Rude/suggestive material and some language.
Runtime: 1 Hour and 42 Minutes
Production Companies: Happy Madison Productions, Animal Logic
Distributor: Netflix
Directors: Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel, David Wachtenheim
Writers: Robert Smigel, Adam Sandler, Paul Sado
Cast: Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, Rob Schneider, Jo Koy, Jackie Sandler, Heidi Gardner, Robert Smigel, Nick Swardson, Stephanie Hsu, Nicholas Turturro
Release Date: November 21, 2023
in Theaters + Netflix
After the Safdie Brothers transformed Adam Sandler into a diamond-chasing sleazebag in their incredible thriller Uncut Gems, we've entered the Sandmanissance. Only peak performances from the Sandman himself have reigned, especially under his Happy Madison Productions banner. I wasn't touching his Netflix flicks with a ten-inch pole after The Ridiculous 6, but it's a different story lately. Last year's Hustle was incredible, and You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah proved that his daughters Sunny and Sadie have some comic skills like their old man. Now it's time for Sandman to return to do what he does best: silly little voices for animation. Since he said deuces to Drac with Hotel Transylvania 4 so he could do his silly, quirky scat man rabbi voice for a 74-year-old curmudgeon school lizard on the brink of death, Adam Sandler still evokes his signature charm no matter what. Even though the bar is low, Leo has to be the best Happy Madison animated feature yet. Yes, that's saying a lot.
Leo (Adam Sandler), a grumpy 74-year-old lizard, lives as a fifth-grade class pet alongside an equally pessimistic tank-mate Squirtle (Bill Burr) at a Fort Myers Elementary School. At the top of the new school year, with a new slew of anxious students, the teacher, Mrs. Salinas (Allison Strong), takes maternity leave, leaving her duties to a strict substitute, Ms. Malkin (Cecily Strong). But before Malkin takes over the class, Leo learns that lizards live to be 75 years old, and he's in his final year. With a life solely spent in captivity, Leo plans to break out and live in the Everglades. Malkin assigns the kids to take care of Leo for a weekend. On one getaway attempt, he inadvertently breaks animal code number one: talking. His voice impresses the kids, and he finds himself in a newfound role as a guidance counselor.
Leo reunites Sandler with his old SNL writer pal, Robert Smigel, who penned You Don't Mess with the Zohan and Hotel Transylvania 2. Suppose any of their repertoire's wry, sarcastic, comical, grumpy humor is familiar to you. In that case, their witty observational jokes play into Leo's strength and charm.
In its opening, Leo and Squirtle immediately clock each archetype within the new fifth-graders by their weird social interactions at school. All are a product of their at-home lifestyles, from divorced parents to entitled ones. The duo, along with co-writer Paul Sado, airs their grievances towards modern parenting styles that affect the current iPad youth with grade school anxiety, commenting on the coddling parenting style that enables them. They put some kids in their place with nuanced, wise advice.
Sandler's high-octave rabbi voice is usually grating, but that’s not the case for Leo, for it fits the context of an old lizard. His vocal performance reflects his old voices, using it less to be silly but to give a character a distinguishable disposition. He comes across as an old grandpa who likes to provide wisdom for the kiddos, and while he sounds funny, he elicits an elderly charm you can't help but adore.
He shares excellent camaraderie with his fellow voice cast of students and adults, but I adore the banter he has with Bill Burr as Squirtle. They have a fun, odd couple, Statler and Waldorf dynamic that changes the story's trajectory and is one of the film's funniest aspects. Plus, I can't help but think Leo and Squirtle are mouthpieces for Smigel and Sandler and their experiences as parents witnessing other parents fumble.
What the film needs to mention is that it's a musical. None of the songs, all penned by Smigel, are necessarily memorable, but all the tunes perfectly serve its coming-of-age tale. When these kids break out into song, it's their natural voices on full display. Some of them can't sing, but there's an authentic charm to that, too.
Between this film and Eight Crazy Nights, Happy Madison knows where to hire talented animators to make whatever ideas they have come to life. Leo comes from Australia-based studio Animal Logic, which did the LEGO Movies and Happy Feet. With more traditional CGI akin to their earlier Netflix feature, The Magician's Elephant, Leo stylistically bears the silly comical traits Happy Madison is known for, for better or worse. Considering that the film is helmed by Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel, and David Wachtenheim, who used to work on those Saturday TV funhouse shorts from the early 2000s SNL—all under their debut feature— the direction feels as reflective and mature as Leo himself. They wring natural laughs out of the weirdness (rambunctious, inhumanely designed kindergarteners and a sassy drone never leading a helicopter kid's side as central gags), silly character expressions, and fast-paced visual gags.
Some Happy Madison tropes never die, no matter what distributor. Weird gross-out jokes that fall flat and egregious product placement galore come with the territory, but it’s still bothersome. By God, it’s very aggravating, like a Michael Bay Transformers flick. I felt sorry for the animators who had to detail a singular shot dedicated to Purell or Cheetos.
Animal Logic's animation lacks the same polished quality of its previous flicks. Put Leo up beside something like Happy Feet, and it looks more dated, at least given its bizarre, overly smooth movement. Still, it's genuinely compensated by being thoroughly funny and charming. I mean, Adam Sandler doing a silly voice as a 74-year-old Floridian lizard nearly made me cry. And it’s under his Happy Madison brand, directed by his SNL buds. That defies all types of logic—animal logic.
Striking a cynical charm only Smigel and Sandler can evoke with fresh nuance, Leo is a charming animated family flick that passionately celebrates and satirizes the next generation on their way to growing up.
