The Sheep Detectives
Just outside the sleepy town of Denbrook, a shepherd, George Hardy (Hugh Jackman), is writing a letter to a Rebecca in the U.S. extolling the virtues of sheep, telling her about members of his flock like Lily (voice of Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the smartest one; Mopple (voice of Chris O'Dowd, "Bridesmaids"), the patient one; Sebastian (voice of Bryan Cranston), a ram rescued from a carnival who mostly keeps to himself; Cloud (voice of Regina Hall), the diva and Sir Ritchfield (voice of Patrick Stewart), the old ram George treats with his own specially formulated blue medicine. Although he doesn't know it, his flock understands every word he says when he reads them detective mysteries at dusk, so when Lily finds George dead in their field one morning, something Denbrook's incompetent Officer Derry ("Succession's" Nicholas Braun) declares a heart attack, she believes he's wrong because of the green stains on George's hands and already has the tools to form "The Sheep Detectives."
Laura's Review: B+
Director Kyle Balda ("Minions") makes his live action debut with a whimsical charmer adapted from Leonnie Swann's 'Three Bags Full' by Craig Mazin (HBO's 'Chernobyl') and, ironically, a bunch of animated sheep. Fear not, though, because these sheep have been given tons of personality by a formidable voice cast and visual effects supervisor Graham Page while the human cast provides plenty of suspects. The sheep also have their own worldview believing that they eventually turn into clouds and that winter lambs, their own (voice of Tommy Birchall) a favorite of George's, should be shunned. All but Mopple are also able to completely forget anything upsetting. (And MGM's Leo baa's instead of roars at the movie's open.)
We and the sheep have already seen George have an argument with the adjoining farm's owner Caleb Merrow (Tosin Cole, "Till") and heard that there's something in the past involving The Peacock Inn's owner Beth Pennock (Hong Chau, "The Whale"), who, seeing his letter to Rebecca in the mailwoman's mailbag, swipes it. George also strides into Reverend Hillcoate's (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, "Wonka") service to angrily place a roll of cash on his collection plate, implying something untoward in that relationship as well. He'll also refer to the town's butcher, Ham Gilyard (Conleth Hill, HBO's 'Game of Thrones), as a 'murderer.'
If Officer Derry isn't initially convinced George was murdered, Elliot Matthews (Nicholas Galitzine, Prime's "The Idea of You") is more than happy to look into it, the obituary writer in town having gotten his first assignment covering The Denbrook Cultural Festival. The 'festival,' which consists of three folding tables set up by Beth behind her establishment, is an amusing bust, but when, in his haste to leave, Elliott gets in an accident, he notices a suspicious flashlight in George's field on the way back into town, the timing consistent with the shepherd's death. Two more outsiders arrive the next morning. George's attorney Lydia Harbottle (Emma Thompson) has come to read his will which opens stating that the gathering includes a fool, a victim, a bad shepherd, a spring lamb, a winter lamb and two murderers and which splits an estate which includes a surprising $30 million in proceeds from the sheep medicine he'd created between his daughter, the Rachel (Molly Gordon, "Oh, Hi!," TV's 'The Bear') of his letter who'd also arrived that morning making Officer Derry's heart skip a beat, and her twin, a son living in South Africa.
Meanwhile, outside of George's Airstream, which Elliott has to nudge Derry to investigate, Lily already thinks Rebecca is the culprit, something Derry also comes to believe when it's discovered she was actually already in town the night before, arresting her. But when the sheep venture into town and Mopple ends up with a stained pillowcase from the inn's clothesline on his head, Lily realizes just what happened, and will enlist the winter lamb she'd previously shunned to aid in the investigation, pointing Derry towards a major clue.
In addition to Jackson, who makes his love of his flock palpable, Braun is the human cast's MVP, the actor traversing an arc from dim-witted to open-minded as he comes to realize George's sheep are trying to help him. Balda wisely had a puppeteer on set to provide the actors physical 'sheep' to engage with, giving their interactions with later animations organic authenticity. And the flock's vocal cast is one of the best of any recent animation, actors like Louis-Dreyfus and Cranston not coasting on aural recognition but really getting beneath their fleeces. Cranston has a very moving arc, O'Dowd adds a measure of calm, Hall is giddily narcistic and Bella Ramsey enthusiastically curious as the lamb Zora. Brett Goldstein of TV's 'Ted Lasso' does double duty as battering rams Reggie and Ronnie and 'Flight of the Conchords'' Rhys Darby is the visually impaired Wool-Eyes. Birchall's endearing winter lamb, who receives a most appropriate name at film's end, is joined by Aroop Shergill, Jasper Ambrose and Ishi Agrawai as the frolicking spring lambs Daisy, Oliver and Pickles.
Production designer Suzie Davies created a charming hamlet for the fictional Denbrook studded with some amusing visual gags, like a local neon artisan. And while "The Sheep Detectives," like "Babe" before it, deals with death, it does so in a sensitive manner appropriate for children, leaving us with a spiritually sentimental sight that should bring a tear to the eye.
Amazon/MGM releases "The Sheep Detectives" in theaters on 5/8/26.
