The year 2026 may be the Year of the Horse on the Chinese zodiac but so far we’ve had an octopus narrating a family drama in Remarkably Bright Creatures, Wile E. Coyote is getting his moment in the spotlight after a long battle. Even that Animal Farm movie had some time at the multiplexes even though it reportedly changed a lot of George Orwell’s book.
But if you really want to see a good movie about farm animals who must think more like humans, The Sheep Detectives is a wonderful movie with a lot of charm.
George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) is a sheep rancher near the England town of Denbrook who spends his downtime reading mystery novels to his herd. George is a vegetarian who doesn’t send his sheep off to the slaughter. For that reason, the sheep live a blissful Pollyanna-like existence on the Hardy Farn. They know little of the the world outside the farm. And they have the abilities to just forget things that are too bothersome or traumatic. Ergo, they believe when they die, they turn into clouds in the sky.
But one morning, they discover that George gas died mysteriously. Elliot Matthews (Nicholas Galitzine) is a reporter visiting the village to cover an event when this happens. He encourages the only constable Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun) to investigate. The sheep led by Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), ram Mopple (voiced by Chris O’Dowd) and loner Sebastian (voiced by Bryan Cranston) do their own investigation which means they have to travel beyond the safety of the pasture.
This leads to several potential suspects such as George’s estranged daughter, Rebecca Hampstead (Molly Gordon), a solicitor, Lydia Harbottle (Emma Thompson) and Caleb Merrow (Tosin Cole), George’s neighbor who is also a sheep herder who George had an argument with shortly before his death.
It’s obvious to anyone watching this that it draws comparisons to Babe and its sequel released in the 1990s. And it’s based on a novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. However, I’d say it’s lighter in tone than Babe even if it does revolve around the suspected murder of a George. But it helps that Kyle Balda as director has helmed The Lorax and Minions and writer Craig Mazin manage to focus more on the eccentric characters of the small English hamlet and the sheep themselves.
I wouldn’t really call it a kids movie but one of those old-fashioned movies that were made for everyone or everyone old enough to understand what’s happening.
Zane Says 