When I first heard that a movie about a bunch of sheep solving a murder mystery, based on a book with a title as clever as "Three Bags Full", I was immediately excited. Now that excitement was largely based on the premise sounding ridiculous, little did I know that this would wind up being a genuinely great time at the movies for everyone.
The film follows a group of sheep whose shepherd George (Hugh Jackman), reads mystery novels to them before bed. When they wake up and find George mysteriously murdered, they must put what they've learned from the stories to help the small town's incompetent police officer (Nicholas Braun) to solve the crime. Is it the town's butcher? The rival shepherd? The mysterious priest? Or perhaps the surprise daughter no one knew about? Only George's sheep can solve the case.
I truly thought this would be a stupid but fine time when I heard the premise, but the end result is something pretty special. Not special from a filmmaking standpoint, on that front it's quite standard, but this is a movie that feels like it's made for everyone. You could take a toddler and a 95-year old to this and expect everyone to have a good time, thanks to a wholesomeness that transcends age demographics and a wit that will have almost anyone laughing at least once. It's a story that takes the tropes and ideas of the classic mysteries we all know and gives it a silly twist that just works.
A big reason this is so effective is the cast. The voice actors are especially crucial, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, and Chris O'Dowd anchoring an all around great voice cast. Having performers of this caliber committing to the bit of playing sheep almost give the film as a whole a sense of viability, letting you know that this isn't just your average goofy talking animals movie, but rather something with a lot of heart behind it. The human characters are also great, even if most of them are forced into generic suspect roles. Hugh Jackman as the victim at the heart of this is perfect, as his charm and compassion for his flock make you care about both him and his sheep pretty much immediately. Nicholas Braun's dimwitted country policeman is also a lot of fun, as is Nicholas Galitzine as a wannabe reporter. I do wish we got a bit more from some members of the cast, namely an underused Emma Thompson, but the focus is largely on the sheep, and rightfully so.
Where this did lose me a bit was the mystery. On one hand the endearing wholesomeness of the film is the big seller, but I did find myself wanting more from the actual detective work. It's a story riffing on the classic murder mysteries but in doing so it delivers something pretty barebones, never really diving into the detective work. The climax is fun, but just lacks the buildup that I think it needed to properly hit. As crazy as it is for a die-hard Paddington 2 lover like myself, I also did find that the ending was a tad too mushy.
Those knocks against the movie as a whole don't stop it from being a great time at the movies. This is a simple story but a delightful one, and if the packed theatre I saw it in was any indication, people are going to be having a blast with this for quite some time. 3.5/5
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