At a crucial juncture in the animated musical, Leo, Adam Sandler’s titular character, a lizard, advises a child to not cry. The reptile calls it a sign of weakness, laziness and stupidity. The kid, however, pulls out a science book and reads out the benefits of crying. Later, Leo tells his friend Squirtle, a turtle (Bill Burr), “I didn’t know how to help her; so, I listened to her.”
Leo juxtaposes his learnings with the sensibilities of the children around him. Realising the generational divide, he then tries to help them and himself break free from social stigmas. While this is a seemingly triumphant moment for Leo, the character, the film doesn’t always hit similar high notes in communicating these ideas to the audience.
Leo and Squirtle are class pets of fifth-grade students at an elementary school. Having observed the kids from inside their glass cages for years, the pets have developed the ability to understand their thoughts from subtle gestures and interactions with peers. The status quo of Leo’s life is disrupted, first, when he finds out he only has a year left to live, and then, with the arrival of a new substitute teacher, Mrs Malkin (Cecily Strong).
Despite being set in an elementary school, Leo’s backdrop is not one filled with rhymes and colours. Instead, it caters to the sensibilities of the new-age kids, where 10-year-olds are equipped to handle smartphones, computers and drones. To familiarise them with the sense of responsibility, Mrs Malkin asks the students to take turns bringing one of the classroom pets home. So, Leo accompanies the students after school, where he listens to them and unwittingly becomes their favourite counsellor. He recommends confronting a problem rather than avoiding it.
These nuances, however, don’t have the intended impact, for which the writing is to blame. The big subplot of Leo’s days being numbered, for instance, doesn’t have adequate drama. Besides, many sequences seem repetitive; like all the scenes where Leo teaches each student a thing or two. But, the most glaring weakness of the film is its banal music. Modest aspirations seem to have replaced profundity in this musical, which couldn’t be saved even by the jubilant Leo.