George Hardy is a shepherd who reads detective novels to his beloved sheep every night, assuming they can't possibly understand. But when a mysterious incident disrupts life on the farm, the sheep realize they must become the detectives. As they follow the clues and investigate human suspects, they prove that even sheep can be brilliant crime-solvers.
Hugh Jackman may take top billing here, but the real plaudits have to go to some animatronic sheep and to Nicholas Braun's hapless detective "Tim". He is completely out of his depth when a body is discovered in a field. He just assumes that "George" (Jackman) has had an heart attack - but the sheep, well thanks to the observations of the hitherto shunned winter lamb, they start to put two and two together and conclude something altogether more sinister is a-hoof. Those suspicions are only increased when his lawyer (Dame Emma Thompson) arrives for the will reading and declares that he had left …
Shepherd dies. It’s the result of murder most foul! Unpropitiously for the manslayer there is a most important factor that they have not accounted for. Unbeknownst to the assassin, the deceased herdsman had been training a crack team of detectives. (If, at this point, you can’t tell who those detectives are from the title of the film, then perhaps murder mysteries are not for you?)
What I thought: meh, it was OK. I wanted it to be funnier, maybe a little cuter. I don’t think they are unreasonable expectations going into a kids movie, right? The village is charming and the characters have so…
It's weird to make a sheep movie without any sheep.
While this is a murder mystery, Hugh Jackman doesn't actually do anything in this movie and is away from most of it being dead and the movie is all about the sheep and their interaction with each other and the human world. The movie is strange because it doesn't actually contain that many sheep. It's mostly just a high polygon count and fantastic voice work instead. I think the movie is cute and the casting for the voices is excellent. And while it is funny, it isn't funny to the degree where it ruins the actual junior murder plot that is af…
Summary: 8/10: a genuinely delightful family film that respects both the mystery genre and its audience, proving that even the most unlikely premise can work when executed with heart and craft.
Based on Leonie Swann's very popular novel Three Bags Full, this is a delightfully funny take on the whole Mickey Spillane/Agatha Christie genre, reimagined with the most unlikely detectives imaginable: a flock of sheep who must solve their shepherd's murder.
Hugh Jackman is absolutely adorable as George, the shepherd who reads mystery novels to his beloved sheep each night, never suspecting they …
Fusing supposedly incompatible genres can be tricky business, a practice whose results may seem like a surefire way to an inappropriate mix. Yet, every so often, moviegoers get pleasantly surprised by such unlikely ventures, as is the case in this latest effort from director Kyle Balda, a delightfully whimsical cross between a comical murder mystery and a live action talking animal feature. Shepherd George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) lovingly tends to his flock, treating them more like children than livestock. In fact, he raises his animals purely for their wool, not as fodder for the butcher’s knife…
This movie was really great had some good laughs and at one part had me in tears. Well written and very well told. One part even had me in tears. Worth a watch and would be a great movie to sit down with the family for movie night !
