Maybe out of fear of putting filmgoers to sleep, the sheep has not been much of a mainstay at the movies.
There鈥檚 Charles Burnett鈥檚 lyrical classic You could get creative and cite Chris Farley鈥檚 鈥淏lack Sheep.鈥� But, really, this is the domain of 鈥淪haun the Sheep,鈥� the uber-charming Aardman Animation about the wordless but wise guardian of Mossy Bottom Farm.
Joining this small flock of films now is which, like 鈥淪haun the Sheep,鈥� takes place in the verdant English countryside and concerns barnyard animals with higher-than-usual IQs. Every night, shepherd George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) reads murder mysteries as bedtime stories for his hillside of grass grazers. They listen intently and bleat the bad guys. Only while talking amongst themselves afterward do they reveal their hidden powers of deduction.
So when George turns up dead, the sheep are on the case. Led by the particularly keen Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), they prove remarkably adept private eyes despite the wool over their eyes.
But if such an ewe-dunit premise has you expecting a lightly funny caper, 鈥淭he Sheep Detectives鈥� is too gentle and strenuously poignant to turn its silly tale into all that much fun. As devoid as I was previously of opinions on sheep detective movies, I do think they ought to be funny. There are undoubtedly a few decent gags here 鈥� the cleverest trick is to make the MGM lion baa, not roar, at the start 鈥� but 鈥淭he Sheep Detectives鈥� is too mild to stand out from the herd of mysteries, even as a strictly family-friendly variety.
鈥淪hears Out,鈥� we could call it. 鈥淭he Sheep Detectives鈥� is adapted from Leonie Swann鈥檚 2005 book, 鈥淭hree Bags Full,鈥� and it has tried to find some middle ground between the novel and 鈥淏abe.鈥� While such a tone might have been catnip from someone like , it鈥檚 a little elusive for director Kyle Balda (鈥淒espicable Me 3鈥�) and screenwriter Craig Mazin, creator of 鈥淐hernobyl鈥� and Neither of those, the last time I checked, feature anything like cute little lambs.
Still, that unlikely genesis also gives 鈥淭he Sheep Detectives鈥� a sweet backdrop. Who wouldn鈥檛 want to take refuge for a little while from mushroom zombies and nuclear disaster, plus everything else in the world, with some gumshoes in hooves?
But 鈥淭he Sheep Detectives鈥� makes a rickety ark. The sheep are strictly CGI 鈥� inevitable, perhaps and technically unblemished, but still limiting considering they’re really the movie鈥檚 real main characters. Aside from Lily, there鈥檚 Mopple (Chris O鈥橠owd), the sole sheep with a sharp memory; an elderly ram named Sir Richfield (Patrick Stewart); Sebastian (Bryan Cranston); the fluffy Cloud (Regina King); and a pair of rams named Reggie and Ronnie (both Brett Goldstein).
After the murder, the dimwitted local police officer Derry (an endearingly dopey in his best post-鈥漇uccession鈥� role yet) bumbles his way through clues that lead him to the arrest of George鈥檚 daughter, Rebecca (Molly Gordon). Hong Chau is here as a local innkeeper. And Emma Thompson, queen of heartrending rural British tales, drops in as George鈥檚 lawyer. Her reading of the will sets off new suspicions.
The sheep stealthily surround the human characters, nudging them along in the case. But 鈥淭he Sheep Detectives鈥� largely esch-ewes anthropomorphized hijinks for more tender lessons. All but Mopple in the flock have the ability to sweep anything from their memory. That willful refusal of any uncomfortable thought has led them to believe sheep don鈥檛 die, they turn into clouds.
That a movie called 鈥淭he Sheep Detectives鈥� tries to impart lessons of morality and mindfulness is, of course, laudable. A wide swath of entertainment aimed at children makes no such attempt. But 鈥淭he Sheep Detectives鈥� could have used more slapstick and less CGI sincerity. In in the end, it’s not even close. Shaun the Sheep still rules the roost.
鈥淭he Sheep Detectives,鈥� an Amazon MGM release in theaters Friday, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for thematic material, some violent content and brief language. Running time: 110 minutes. Two stars out of four.
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