Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile

CinemaSerf 10/20/2022 11:18:52AM 8.4

Javier Bardem steals the show here - he is clearly having some fun in this otherwise rather derivative adventure caper. He is "Hector", a failing magician who can no longer get any work. On a visit to a pet shop one day, he encounters the eponymous character whom he discovers can hold a tune. Ah, thinks he - a fortune to be made. He puts just about everything he has on the line but poor old "Lyle" has stage fright... won't sing! Ruin befalls our entertainer so he leaves his home in the hands of the "Primm" family. Not long after they move in, the son "Josh" (a creditable effort from Winslow Fegley) hears noises in the attic and off we go on the more standard series of escapades peppered with some tunes and hysterical antics from his slightly surprised parents, an intervention from the city authorities and a gently pleasing conclusion that does elicit just the merest hint of a tear. Shawn Mendez ("Lyle") has one of those voices that I find instantly forgettable, and the pens of "Dear Evan Hansen" creators Benj Pasek and Justin Paul really don't bombard us with much to get the toes tapping aside from, perhaps, "Top of the World". The storyline reminded me a lot of "Clifford the Big Red Dog" (2021) - child and curious pet deal with fun adventures and mishaps - and as a gently entertaining piece of drama this does fine. It's just not a film that I think I will remember watching.