The Sheep Detectives review: Chaarming family comedy
If you like an Agatha Christie-style whodunnit and family films starring anthropomorphic animals, then The Sheep Detectives should be right up your street.
Every murder-mystery requires a body found under suspicious circumstances, and in this case, shepherd George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) is found dead in his meadow. Bumbling police officer Tim (Nicholas Braun) initially chalks it up to a heart attack, even though all signs point to foul play. George’s flock of sheep – led by Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Mopple (Chris O’Dowd) and Sebastian (Bryan Cranston) – set out to find who killed George, armed with the knowledge they’ve picked up from the murder-mystery books he used to read to them.
Every whodunnit needs a lineup of suspects. Chief among them is Rebecca (Molly Gordon), a mysterious woman whom George had been writing to, alongside fellow farmer Caleb (Tosin Cole), a butcher (Conleth Hill), a priest (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) and an innkeeper Beth (Hong Chau). Also, let’s not forget George’s lawyer, Lydia (Emma Thompson), and visiting journalist Elliot (Nicholas Galitzine).
It blows my mind that The Sheep Detectives was written by Craig Mazin, who is most famous for the TV shows Chernobyl and The Last of Us. But years before those shows, he made the 2008 parody film Superhero Movie and wrote Scary Movie 3 & 4 and the last two Hangover films, so The Sheep Detectives marks a return to his comedy roots. He teamed up with director Kyle Balda, an animation expert best known for his work in the Despicable Me and Minions franchises.
Together, they have created a charming film that made me laugh out loud a lot. The mystery is decent and I didn’t predict the culprit until just before it was revealed. The CGI on the sheep is impressive – the digital animators really nail their movements – and the voice cast is a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed Patrick Stewart bringing his gravitas to old sheep Sir Ritchfield, and Brett Goldstein as the hilariously tough geezer-sounding sheep Ronnie and Reggie (named after the Kray gangsters).
With that many characters as suspects, it’s to be expected that they don’t all have time to shine or be well-rounded people. But this film is all about the sheep, not the humans. It’s funny watching the sheep eavesdrop on various meetings and conduct their own investigation, and then try to communicate their findings to Tim without being able to speak (they speak to each other in English, but to humans, they are just bleating). The standout human is Braun (aka Succession’s Cousin Greg). While his British accent is simply okay, he really nails the energy of a bumbling British fool.
The Sheep Detectives, based on Leonie Swann’s novel Three Bags Full, has an excellent sense of humour, which was immediately clear from its James Bond-style opening score. This is a fun comedy for all the family.
In cinemas from Friday 8th May