The Sheep Detectives review:
Warm, fuzzy, sans fluff and full of dry, sardonic wit, The Sheep Detectives is a thoroughly entertaining whodunnit with an emotional resonance that makes it appealing to both kids and adults. True to its title, a flock of sheep turns detectives as their caretaker, George (Hugh Jackman), dies in mysterious circumstances. This is not a spoiler, as the trailer itself gives it away and it is no last-act twist. The main draw for the film is not the investigation itself but rather the constant stream of humour in it and the pay-offs to some of the broader arcs in the story.
The humour keeps us invested in what the characters do beyond the detective portions, and the film does not necessarily restrict itself into a murder mystery. There is a great deal of emphasis on exploring what George means to the sheep. The man reads detective stories to his flock before bedtime every day, assuming that his ‘audience’ is merely enjoying the sound of his voice and that they cannot understand the plot. However, when he dies, the sheep follow the methods of crime in his stories. Gradually, however, they realise that solving crime in the real world is not as easy as connecting the dots in the stories.
The film also focuses on the relationships between the sheep. Some members of the flock dissuade the ‘main investigators’ in the story by telling them that they are, after all, just sheep and cannot replace human intelligence. At the same time, there is the angle of the winter sheep, an outlier in the pack because they carry years of trauma and cannot live the simpler, more carefree lives as the rest. The film cleverly weaves this personal angle into the investigative element and takes the odd storytelling risk, making it a poignant coming of age story as well.
It also realises that these animals are unlike humans and do not respond to traumatic events in the same way that the latter do. Many of them grieve and mourn a close one’s death only for a while before the urge to graze and go on their merry ways takes over. They are quick to judge and can sometimes be presumptuous. Each time, the most intelligent sheep of the pack, Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), comes up with a theory about a suspect or mentions a name in relation to their shepherd’s death, the rest of them go, “Murdererrrr!” This is the sort of humour that drives the story, and it is also evident in the investigation by police officer Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun).
As the human face of the investigation, Derry is an honest, albeit naive, cop with little idea about how to proceed with a murder investigation. A well-meaning bumbler, Derry often trips over the very clues he is supposed to be hunting. Eventually, he solves the crime as if by some accident, and the film uses a large chunk of exposition to close out the murder mystery. While this may be a bit of a dampener for hardcore crime thriller fans, the overarching angles in the story keep us engaged in it. There is a Disney Animation-like quality to the story that makes it both whimsical and winning at the same time. The film also touches upon the conflict between animals and butchers with a plot element that feels organic, although it does not explore this deeply enough.
Ultimately, The Sheep Detectives breezes through its roughly 100-minute runtime and offers some solid old-school entertainment without overstaying its welcome. Like a good bedtime story, its charm and endearing performances win you over very quickly and never let you off the hook. The narrative stumbles are easy to overlook here, and you will likely exit the cinema hall with a warm heart and an inevitable, 'sheepish' grin.