Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is a 2022 live-action animated musical comedy directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, from a screenplay by William Davies. It is an adaptation of the children's story of the same name and its prequel The House on East 88th Street by Bernard Waber.

When the Primm family moves to New York City, their young son, Josh, struggles to adapt to his new school and friends. All of that changes when he discovers Lyle, a singing crocodile that loves baths, caviar and great music. The two become fast friends, but when evil neighbor Mr. Grumps threatens Lyle's existence, the Primms must band together to show the world that family can come from the most unexpected places.

The cast includes Shawn Mendes, Javier Bardem, Constance Wu, Winslow Fegley, Scoot McNairy, and Brett Gelman.

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile made its debut in theaters on October 7th, courtesy of Columbia Pictures via Sony Pictures Releasing.

THE GOOD

My trip to the theater to see Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile was an overwhelmingly positive experience for several reasons. First, I was excited that I finally had another chance to take my almost 4-year-old little guy to see another movie, allowing me an opportunity for some great father son bonding time. He had been asking me when he would be able to see another movie in theaters, and needless to say I wasn’t about to bring him to see Bros (our review here) or Smile. My wife and I also had the crazy thought to try and take our almost 2-year-old, who is admittedly a mini-me, to see his first movie. Both boys watched the trailer and just kept running around the house yelling “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile”, and I’m not gonna lie it was pretty damn cute. We even grabbed the book from the library to read to them before bed earlier in the week.

As our youngest climbed into his seat and looked at the giant bucket of delicious popcorn and the glorious illuminated screen in front of him, all he could say was “wowwwwwwwwww”. It was at that very moment that I knew I could forego the DNA test, he was definitely my kid. In all seriousness, both boys loved the movie, and our youngest sat through the entire thing and only became slightly distracted towards the end. Bottom line, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile was a very successful trip to the theater for our little family. So, did the adults enjoy the movie? I’m glad you asked!

We did! I personally had a lot of fun with this movie, and more than anything else appreciated its ability to appeal to both kids and parents. It tells a very simple yet effective story, and also takes full advantage of the fact that it is partly a musical as well. I wouldn’t consider myself to be a musical fanatic necessarily, but I love when a movie can seamlessly blend musical elements within the story to where it doesn’t quite feel like a full-blown musical. The songwriting team from The Greatest Showman returns for Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile and you can feel their energy right away.

Having a talent like Shawn Mendes as the voice-actor for Lyle was a massive casting move, but the performances needed to jump off the screen, and in my opinion they absolutely did. I looked forward to the next time Lyle graced us with his angelic vocal chords, and that is saying a lot for someone who usually has a take it or leave it attitude when it comes to musicals. Bottom line, the performances were fun and exciting and kept my eyes glued to the screen as we were treated to a great soundtrack. Oh and little Lyle was so damn cute, I almost wanted a pet Crocodile of my own. Almost.

I was also genuinely pleased with the cast, lead by musician Shawn Mendes as Lyle and Javier Bardem. The two of them are just electric on screen. I really liked Winslow Begley who plays Josh Primm, and thought that he delivered a very solid performance. Begley was able to develop a unique bond with Lyle, and I felt like his difficult transition to a new home and a new city felt authentic and got audiences invested. Constance Wu and Scoot McNairy played Josh’s parents, and I really enjoyed both characters.

One of the scenes in the film that garnered the most laughs in the theater included McNairy’s character reliving his days as a championship wrestler. Having read the book to my kids before bed several times before seeing the movie, I knew it was important to cast the right person to play the films antagonist, Mr. Grumps, and comedian-turned-actor Brett Gelman was absolutely the right choice. The veteran actor is simply hilarious in his super odd role in one of my favorite comedies The Other Guys, and even though this role isn’t quite as over-the-top, he still plays it to perfection.

THE BAD

Andrew and I sort of have an unwritten rule where we don’t shred children’s movies, unless they are deserving of course, especially when they are based on popular books. But before you start questioning our thoughts on these movies, rest assured they will still receive the rating they deserve. To be honest, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile met and exceeded my expectations. It was fun, never boring, and didn’t reach the cheesy status that it easily could have considering well, it is based on a children’s book about a singing and dancing crocodile. I felt like the film stayed fairly grounded all things considered and told a story with substance. I will say that I had hoped it would tug on the old heart strings a but more than it did, but that is just me sort of nitpicking. Instead of dragging out the third act of the film the writers decided to focus on the root of the story, and I do feel like it was the right decision.

THE VERDICT

An energetic and heartwarming family comedy featuring some great musical performances thanks to the talented duo of Shawn Mendes and Javier Bardem, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile serves up something for the entire family making it well worth a trip to the theater. Family movies, especially those for younger kids, seem to be few and far between the last few months so jumped at the opportunity to see this with the family and it was well worth it. As I touched on earlier in the review, I am hard pressed to pick apart or be critical of Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile for the simple fact that it did what it set out to do, and then some.

Do yourself a favor and take advantage of a seemingly rare opportunity to get the littles ones out to the theater, you won’t regret it. Also pro tip, lots of delicious popcorn always helps too.