#49: THE SHEEP DETECTIVE

 

STARRING: Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O'Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, Hong Chau and Emma Thompson. Written by Craig Mazin. Based on Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. Directed by Kyle Balda. Budget $75 million. Running time 109 minutes.

The plot sees a group of sheep set out to solve the murder of their shepherd George Hardy (Hugh Jackman). It's a classic murder mystery, with a cast of likely suspects, all with motives, and if you're eagle-eyed and listen carefully you should be able to solve the murder, I did and it was fun! Anyway, when said shepherd dies, the sheep lead by the brainiest, Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Mopple (Chris O'Dowd) and Sebastian (Bryan Cranston) set out to solve the murder. However, this being a live-action movie and set in the 'real world-ish', the Sheep are really sheep and constrained by sheep logic and rules, they can't talk to humans, can't operate machinery or do things a real sheep couldn't. Indeed the rules of the sheep world are very well laid out and work really well, the film makes sure never to break the rules to advance the plot and I was very moved by their lore and knowledge. The large cast of sheep are voiced by the likes of Patrick Stewart, Brett Goldstein, Chris O'Dowd, Regina Hall, Bella Ramsey and Rhys Darby. While in the human camp we get Nicholas Braun and Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, Tosin Cole, Kobna Hodbrook-Smith, Conleth Hill, Mandeep Dhillon and Emma Thompson, who has it in her contract that she must appear in every wacky British film made. Actually watching her in this, she plays Lydia Harbottle a lawyer handling George Hardy's estate, I was struck the notion of another The Devil Wear Prada film where Thompson plays a rival fashion diva, perhaps the editor of a British fashion mag to rival Runway, I haven't worked out the plot yet, but I can already see Thompson and Streep duking it out. 

ANYWAY, what of this film, Leach you idiot?

Well, I won't lie. This, for me anyway was a very mixed bag. This starts off well with George and his flock, it's established he doesn't herd the sheep for meat, just their wool, and he loves his flock deeply, although not carnally, which is a blessing for him and us both. He tends them, nurses them and even reads to them every night at bedtime, mostly crime detective fiction, which is why the sheep set off to solve his murder. This part of the film I loved, a sheer delight, the animation is superb, the characterisation, the voices the looks of the varied breeds of sheep all worked wonderfully. But then the film takes us to the fictional village of Denbrook and my heart sank like the Bismarck. It was a dreadful faux Americanised version of an English village filled with horrible anachronistic details, like great big American trucks, farmers wearing baseball caps, neon signs that hung from every shop including the police station! The uniforms of said policeman, the insanely diverse ethnic mix of the small village that you could easily play Ethnic Bingo with as you tick off all the groups represented here. The representation of the bungling loveable English cove, from dim-witted cop to brutish butcher to angry publican. In fact, if it'd been set in London, I guarantee you'll have had fog bound cobbled streets and a Bobby blowing his whistle. 

All this put my teeth on edge and lost me, it all felt like so desperate trying to be all inclusive to everybody and every age to the detriment of the audience and I found myself hating it, deeply. It was sickingly twee and sweet, the human characters were all panto villains or jolly scallywags, and yet through it all the dogged determination of the sheep and their world to get justice for the beloved murdered shepherd won me over. The way the handled things beyond their realm of understanding, like tarmac was fantastic, their own religion which explained where clouds come from was simply magical and it's because of those four-legged walking roast dinners that I was finally won over and found myself, quite against my intention liking it greatly. I was most satisfied by the solving of the crime and the truth behind the revelations of each of the suspects, the film worked wonderfully as a who-dunnit and as a charming talking animal film. Imagine this existing in the same universe as Babe. 

You'll come for the sheep and stay for the very satisfying conclusion. 

8/10