Maybe out of fear of putting filmgoers to sleep, the sheep has not been much of a mainstay at the movies.
There’s Charles Burnett’s lyrical classic “Killer of Sheep.” You could get creative and cite Chris Farley’s “Black Sheep.” But, really, this is the domain of “Shaun the Sheep,” the uber-charming Aardman Animation about the wordless but wise guardian of Mossy Bottom Farm.
Joining this small flock of films now is “The Sheep Detectives,” which, like “Shaun the Sheep,” 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, “The Sheep Detectives” 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 — the cleverest trick is to make the MGM lion baa, not roar, at the start — but “The Sheep Detectives” is too mild to stand out from the herd of mysteries, even as a strictly family-friendly variety.
“Shears Out,” we could call it. “The Sheep Detectives” is adapted from Leonie Swann’s 2005 book, “Three Bags Full,” and it has tried to find some middle ground between the novel and “Babe.” While such a tone might have been catnip from someone like “Paddington” don Paul King, it’s a little elusive for director Kyle Balda (“Despicable Me 3”) and screenwriter Craig Mazin, creator of “Chernobyl” and “The Last of Us.” Neither of those, the last time I checked, feature anything like cute little lambs.
Still, that unlikely genesis also gives “The Sheep Detectives” a sweet backdrop. Who wouldn’t 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 “The Sheep Detectives” makes a rickety ark. The sheep are strictly CGI — inevitable, perhaps and technically unblemished, but still limiting considering they’re really the movie’s real main characters. Aside from Lily, there’s Mopple (Chris O’Dowd), 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 Nicholas Braun, in his best post-“Succession” role yet) bumbles his way through clues that lead him to the arrest of George’s 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’s lawyer. Her reading of the will sets off new suspicions.
The sheep stealthily surround the human characters, nudging them along in the case. But “The Sheep Detectives” 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’t die, they turn into clouds.
That a movie called “The Sheep Detectives” 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 “The Sheep Detectives” 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.
“The Sheep Detectives,” 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.
