Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile Movie Review

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” is a movie based on children’s book, and it has been with a lot of energy and creativity. The talent behind the movie is very impressive. Lyle is a singing sensation, doing music created by the same team of songwriters who have composed for “Dear Evan Hansen”, “La La Land” and “The Greatest Showman”. You might call Lyle the crocodile “The Scaliest Showman”.

Years ago in New York, a struggling performer named Hector P. Valenti (played by Javier Bardem) cannot get a steady gig. He performs a really bad magic show with pigeons and is booted off the stage. The doorman tells Hector he needs an animal that is more exotic.

He goes to a small pet store in the city, and in the backroom, Hector finds the perfect partner. But it is small animal, still quite young, and it looks more like a gecko. He expects it to stand up and say “You could save 15% on auto insurance”…

But this is Lyle, and he is no gecko. He is a young crocodile. Hector takes Lyle home to a small brownstone on 82nd Street. The two of them hide Lyle from the cranky tenant in basement, Mr. Grumps (played by Brett Gelman). Mr. Grumps hates everyone, except for his prized pet Persian cat Loretta.

Hector learns that Lyle cannot speak, but that he knows how to sing. Lyle (singing voice of Shawn Mendes) knows how to really belt out show tunes. And he can dance too! Hector tries to get they pair of them as a new sensational act.

Lyle, however, has a bad case stage fright. Hector’s plans of a huge nation-wide act go up in smoke. With no money, Hector decides to leave. But he leaves Lyle in the attic, because he promises Lyle he will return one day. But more than a year and half roll by, and Lyle is left all alone. That is, until a new family moves into Hector’s old flat. It is the Primm family, ready to start a new life in New York.

Mr. Joseph Primm (played by Scoot McNairy) is a teacher at the private school just down the street. He has an arrangement that his family can live in that brownstone while he teaches there. Nice benefit for a job like that! His wife Katie (played by Constance Wu) is a famous author of a line of popular cookbooks. Plus they have a son named Josh (played by Winslow Fegley) who is going to start at public school. They have no idea what is hiding in the attic.

Josh has no friends at school and gets bullied. Mr. Primm is in charge of an unruly class of students. Katie wants to make a big change away from her cookbooks of sweets and treats to something more organic and healthy. So all of them are full of anxiety and worry for some reason or another. Plus, that nasty neighbor, Mr. Grumps, is watching them like a hawk, ready to turn them into the authorities if they get out of line.

Johns discovers Lyle, and he finds that he is not a scary beast at all. Lyle is actually very sweet, and he is thoughtful. He teaches Josh the finer dining areas around the city. Lyle leads Josh out at night to the best restaurants in town, back to the alley dumpsters. That is where the best food in the world gets tossed out. Lyle and Josh have many adventures every night, and they don’t mind the finicky Persian Loretta tagging along. Josh gets serenaded by Lyle and finds out that this croc has talent.

Josh is a changed boy. He gains more confidence and he is ready for anything. Katie one day also runs into Lyle. She eventually is enamored with his kindness and his singing talent. Even Joseph learns that Lyle lives in the attic, and he too gets in touch with his inner self-confidence. It is only Mr. Grumps who is still angry and upset that the new family upstairs seems to be having fun all the time.

One day, Hector returns. It seems that the deed to property allow him to come back and live there for at least fifteen days every year. There is another part of the deed that has gone missing, and it might allow for some other crazy things. Hector is still struggling as a performer.

He wants to connect with Lyle once again, and get him to open up and sing on the stage. Lyle is more than happy to stay with his new family. But Mr. Grumps has a long-standing feud with Hector. Hector’s family once owned the brownstone, and Mr. Grumps wants to find a way to kick all of these people out.

The people chasing Hector want a lot of money, but he doesn’t have any. So Hector is forced by Mr. Grumps to turn Lyle over to Animal Control. Lyle is taken to the New York Zoo. Josh is heart-broken. Hector slinks off to collect a fee for his efforts, so he can get out of debt. But Hector has a change of heart and wants to break Lyle out of his Reptile Prison. Josh does not believe Hector has turned over a new leaf. He said he will not help. But if they do break out Lyle from the Zoo, somehow they will need to show the world that Lyle is a special crocodile.

Hector and Josh are ready to get Lyle back to where he belongs. But can the two of them break out a large singing crocodile from the Zoo? What will they do if they can get him out? Is there a way to show off Lyle and his special talent? Will the final round of a nationwide TV Talent Show that has a live show today in New York City somehow come into this crazy scheme? Or is this going to be “After While, Crocodile”?

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” takes a well-received children’s book and turns it into a warm and friendly story of a family that grows with a large scaly new family member.  The addition of a few snappy tunes also helps quite a bit. It is a little bit long (for the youngest audience members), but that does not detract at all.

Javier Bardem (playing Hector) looks like it having a blast with that character. Brett Gelman plays Mr. Grumps in an appropriately grumpy manner. Shawn Mendes, doing the singing voice of the reptile star, adds a lot of energy to Lyle. Everyone else does pretty good, but nothing extraordinary.

Original songs for the film were created by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The have done other original music and lyrics for “Dear Evan Hansen”, “La La Land” and “The Greatest Showman”. They give this movie a lot more energy with the catchy numbers that Lyle and rest of the cast sing.

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” is a movie worthy of a family outing, especially for those with young children. It is upbeat and snappy, and will not bring you to crocodile tears.