THE SHEEP DETECTIVES Reviewed by GREG KING
Director Kyle Balda
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, Emma Thompson, Tosin Cole, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Conleth Hill, Mandeep Dhillon, voices of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Rhys Darby, Brett Goldstein, Laraine Newman.
Knives Out for sheep?
This is a cute, sweet-natured and whimsical family friendly murder mystery in which a flock of sheep help solve a murder.
George Hardy (played by Hugh Jackman) lives in his caravan and tends to his flock of sheep on his farm outside the small sleepy and quintessentially British village of Denbrook. He knows all of their names and idiosyncrasies, and he looks after them with care. At the end of every day he also reads a chapter from his collection of mystery novels to the flock. Unbeknownst to him though they understand the stories and even debate amongst themselves about the identity of the killers.
The gruff and solitary George feels more kindly towards his sheep than he does many of the residents of Denbrook. He doesn’t particularly like Ham (Conleith Hill, from Game Of Thrones, etc), the local butcher, or fellow shepherd Caleb (Tosin Cole, from Hollyoaks, etc) who has designs on acquiring some of his land. He is also cool towards the reverend Hillcoate (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, from Wonka, etc) and innkeeper Beth Pennock (Hong Chu, recently seen in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, etc).
The village is about to celebrate its annual festival, and a curious ambitious young reporter in Elliot Matthew (Nicholas Galitzine, from tv series Mary & George, etc) turns up to cover the celebrations. Arriving in town at the same time is a mysterious young woman named Rachel (Molly Gordon, from Booksmart, etc), who claims to be George’s estranged daughter.
Then George turns up dead, poisoned by someone in the middle of the night. There is no shortage of suspects but hapless local constable Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun, from tv series Succession, etc) seems out of his depth. George’s formidable lawyer Lydia Harbottle (Emma Thompson) reads his will. It surprisingly provides the motive for the murder when she reveals the extent of his wealth. Rebecca immediately becomes the key suspect. And Elliots believes that covering this story could be his big break to serious journalism.
With Derry clearly out of his depth the sheep step up to point him in the right direction. The flock is led by the sharp and clever Lily (voiced by Seinfeld’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus) who has always seemed able to solve the crimes in George’s books. She is aided by Mopple (Chris O’Dowd) who has a photographic memory; the pompous Sir Richfield (Star Trek’s Patrick Stewart); Sebastian the loner (Bryan Cranston, from Breaking Bad, etc); the more philosophical Cloud (Regina Hall); Wool-eyes (Rhys Darby); and twin rams Ronnie and Reggie (Brett Goldstein), who love nothing more than butting heads and other inanimate objects.
The Sheep Detectives has been adapted from the best-selling 2005 novel Three Bags Full, written by German crime writer Leonie Swann. Screenwriter Craig Mazin (The Last Of Us, etc) reworks the tropes of the classic Agatha Christie-style murder mystery and shakes up the formula by populating it with a flock of curious and intelligent sheep. A superb ensemble vocal cast of A-listers has been assembled to give life to the sheep.
The Sheep Detectives is the first live action film directed by Kyle Balda, better known for his animation work on films like Minions, etc, and he keeps things moving along nicely. Mazin’s script includes many clever puns, running gags, “dad” jokes, and plenty of physical humour that will appeal to audiences of all ages. The film also explores universal themes of grief, mortality, family, community, memory and prejudice. The script also incorporates many red herrings that deftly pull the wool over the audience’s eyes.
The influence of talking animal films like the classic Babe can be seen throughout, especially in the clever use of CGI effects from Framestore that credibly allow the sheep to give voice to their thoughts.
Jackman brings his usual charisma to his role as George, while Thompson brings the necessary snark as a no-nonsense lawyer. Braun is also good as the inept policeman. The ensemble vocal cast deliver the goods and give each of the sheep a distinct personality and they basically steal the show.
Cinematographer George Steel (Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, etc) frames the action nicely.
It’s very silly but very enjoyable.
★★★☆
