The Sheep Detectives

The Sheep Detectives is a murder mystery that has that rare combination of brains, humor, charm and heart for both kids and adults to enjoy. It’s a movie that has enough goofy elements to offer kids without being condescending and adults will be pleasantly surprised as it’s a movie that doesn’t insult their intelligence.

Hugh Jackman stars as George Hardy, a shepherd in a small English village who tends to his flock of sheep every day including reading them murder mystery novels despite the fact that he believes they can’t comprehend anything he reads them. Of course, that doesn’t turn out to be the case as they talk to each other when George isn’t around.

The sheep use what George teaches them through these mystery novels when they learn someone in the village has been murdered and try to literally solve the case. Julia Louis-Drefyus, Bryan Cranston and Patrick Stewart provide the voicework for the sheep and they donated terrific job using their wit and humor to investigate.

Meanwhile the humans in the village are also putting their skills to work. Nicholas Braun costars as a bumbling police officer; Nicholas Galitzine is a snoopy reporter and Emma Thompson is the victim’s lawyer. The victim’s daughter is played by Molly Gordon who becomes a suspect due to suspicious circumstances.

The Sheep Detectives is a movie that isn’t necessarily ambitious but rather it’s straightforward in its approach and execution (no pun intended). It doesn’t carried away with special effects and it makes all the characters both human and animal into being set up convincingly and they’re all given the right amount of screen time.

The sheep characters are delightful as they’re not merely comic relief but they display cleverness, pathos and have an overall sense of fun solving the mystery. They are not a gimmick or a clothesline for the convenience of the plot but rather they are central to the plot.

The Sheep Detectives isn’t afraid to be sad and heartwarming without becoming heartless for its target audience and it allows kids to have a sense of genuine entertainment. Case closed.

Grade: B+

(Rated PG for thematic material, some violent content and brief language.)