Not recommended under 5; parental guidance to 8 (themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 5 | Not recommended due to themes. |
Children aged 5–8 | Parental guidance recommended due to themes. |
Children aged 9 and over | Ok for this age group. |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Leo |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Rude/suggestive material and some language (OC) |
Length: | 102 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Leo (voiced by Adam Sandler) is a jaded, 74-year-old lizard that has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his turtle terrarium-mate Squirtle (voiced by Bill Burr). When Leo learns the fate of only having one more year to live, he decides that it is time to escape and experience life in the outside world.
On this journey of self-discovery, Leo finds he is a little more than just a class pet. During the class ‘take a pet home’ assignment, the students discover that Leo can talk. With this development, Leo finds himself in a position to be able to help the students whom he once watched from behind the terrarium glass. During his home visits, Leo gets to learn what makes the students unique, and the students share their concerns and worries. With his wise 74 years of classroom wisdom, Leo is about to make the biggest impact on the students’ lives. But when Leo finally gets his chance to be free, what will hold him back?
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Coming-of-age; Friendship; Musical; School-age drama, Companionship.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie, including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Leo is a heartfelt, coming-of-age story portraying the last year of elementary/primary school, as seen through the eyes of a class pet. With Adam Sandler’s humour, combined with primary school dynamics, the film is likely to leave the audience holding back tears and giggling with light-hearted humour. Best suited for families with children over 8, with parental guidance from ages 5 to 8.
The main messages from this movie are about the importance of friendship; and that sometimes not all problems require solutions, just someone to be there to listen.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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