The Sheep Detectives

Grade: B+

The Sheep Detectives is a PG-rated live action talking animal movie, that also takes on a murder mystery plot, like Knives Out. I would never have thought to combine those genres. It must take a special mind to have something like that occur to them, and the idea comes from German crime writer Leonie Swann. This is based on a novel of hers from 2005 called Three Bags Full.

Hugh Jackman is billed as the star, but he’s in less than half the movie. He plays George, who lives in a modest trailer outside the town of Denbrook. His large flock of sheep is his pride and joy. He reads murder mystery novels to them every night. He doesn’t know the sheep speak to each other like humans, and neither do we, until they express frustration that he stopped reading for the night right at the story’s cliffhanger. 

The animal characters are cute, funny, easy to keep track of, and would be enough to sustain an entire film, coupled with the charismatic Jackson as their owner. The voice talent includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Regina Hall, Brett Goldstein, Patrick Stewart, and Bryan Cranston. They all play their types, and play them well. You’ll recognize that it’s them. One morning, they awake to find George’s dead body outside. This is handled in a delicate, PG way, but they conclude he is murdered. As they are experts on murder mysteries after years of hearing them, they are on a mission to solve it.

The human townspeople are populated with an equally strong cast. Emma Thompson is Lydia Harbottle, George’s lawyer. Hong Chau is the innkeeper. Nicholas Braun (Splitsville, Saturday Night, Dream Scenario) is a Barney Fife type policeman. He is bumbling, high-strung, and feels in over his head at the need to investigate an actual murder. He wasn’t expecting that in this small town. Molly Gordon, a recent favorite of mine (from Oh, Hi! and Theater Camp), shows up as George’s daughter Rebecca.

Of course, there is a will-reading scene, where it’s revealed that a pretty sizable chunk of change is involved. Of course, everyone in town appears to have a motive, and/or an opportunity. The local butcher has been interested in the sheep for some time. There’s a clever bit where he’s parked off to the side of George’s property, sizing up the flock, and suddenly gets sleepy while counting the sheep. The comedy that arises is creative and frequent, whether it be from the banter between the animal characters, or Braun’s policeman wondering why these sheep keep wandering around town, and seem to show up whenever anything significant regarding the case happens. There is a character who we’re supposed to spend most of the movie thinking is the killer, but you know how these things go. Maybe it’s possible a viewer will crack the case before anyone onscreen does, but the killer wasn’t anybody on my radar – as it should be.

Whodunit, why, how, and where is all thoroughly laid out for us in a standard extensive monologue near the end, and it’s great. It’s not overly simplified or dumbed down; it’s just as weighty as any adult mystery. I can see people still being left with a “wait, but what about” question that may send them online for clarification. The song that plays over the end credits probably wasn’t written about a shepherd and his sheep, but it’s surprisingly connectable to the subject matter. When he comes home, yeah he knows he’s gonna be, he’s gonna be the man who’s coming home to you.

Grade: B+