On Netflix, “Leo”, the therapist lizard with the voice of Adam Sandler who gives advice to 5th graders

Inside the package Adam Sandler arranged with Netflix For the next few years – he was one of the first at the time to make films for the streaming giant – there is this animated film, Leo, which is already at the top of the list of most viewed films on Netflix.

The Cool Dad and Mystery Sight actor produced, co-wrote the script and lent his voice to a lizard, a pet locked in a fish tank with a turtle, Squirtle (voice of Bill Burr) in a class at an elementary school in Florida.

This year it is the turn of the 5th graders, who will be saying goodbye to school, and Leo will have a lot to do with how this group of fearful children, pre-adolescents anxious about their future, can gain confidence and strengthen bonds of friendship.

How do you do it? Well, we already said that Sandler voices Leo, who will talk to each student in the room who takes him to his house one weekend, which is a new assignment that the old substitute teacher gives them. Miss Salinas (Allison Strong), whom the boys love, is pregnant and is on leave.

Leo wants to explore, get out of school and see the world (or at least one part or another of the Florida peninsula), and the first student who discovers that he talks tells him that he can only talk to her, because she is special (the girl). . And Leo will repeat the formula with the other classmates, giving him the attention that it seems his parents do not give them, encouraging them to do things, to forge friendships, to care about each other.

There is an internal motive in Leo, and that is that he hears some parents say that his species lasts until he is 75 years old, and the lizard – who is 74 years old and is less grumpy than his turtle companion – wants to take advantage (as the teacher who composed Robin Williams in The death poet Society) what remains of his life to do good. Give another purpose to his life.

And yes, he becomes like a child therapist. After all, growing up doesn’t have to be scary.

It is the “lessons” that Leo gives the boys that make the film flow, have its humorous moments – after all, it is a comedy – and even emotional moments.

Leo, the movie, is also a musical, so don’t be surprised if the kids suddenly start singing, or even when Leo himself does it.

And continuing with the family movie vibe, Sandler made his two daughters, who appeared in the recent You’re not invited to my bat mitzvah!also on Netflix, give the voice to two students, Summer (Sunny Sandler), who doesn’t stop talking and bores classmates and adults, and Jayda (Sadie Sandler), who are in the antithesis: one is unpopular and the other quite the opposite.

In short, a comedy that both children and adults can enjoy. Something that those who zap through the platforms already know is not easy to achieve.

Animation. United States, 2023. 102′, ATP. Of: Robert Marionetti, Robert Smigel y David Watchtenheim. With the voices of: Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, Rob Schneider, Sunny Sandler, Sadie Sandler. Available in: Netflix.