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Warm Early Reviews Greet The Sheep Detectives

The adaptation from Leonie Swann favors feeling over broad comedy.

Overview

  • New reviews from Slate and Newsday praise the film’s warmth and emotional pull, while the Associated Press says the tone is too gentle for a true laugh-a-minute caper.
  • The story follows a flock in the English countryside that tries to solve the murder of their shepherd after years of hearing mystery tales at bedtime.
  • A defining idea is that the sheep can choose to forget painful moments and believe the dead become clouds, which turns the case into a lesson about grief and memory.
  • The production pairs director Kyle Balda and writer Craig Mazin with a starry cast led by Hugh Jackman on screen and voices from Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Patrick Stewart, Regina King, and Chris O’Dowd, and critics differ on how convincing the CGI sheep look from shot to shot.
  • The movie is an Amazon MGM theatrical release rated PG, and it runs about 110 minutes.