3.14/5: Fun, but flawed, family movie. This review contains semi-spoilers. Don’t read if you don’t want help figuring out whodunnit.
Family friendly murder mysteries present a difficult challenge for screenwriters. The inciting incident is literally somebody getting whacked, so how do you kick off a kids movie with that? The Sheep Detectives uses a bloodless poisoning, and elegant cinematography to keep the flashbacks suitable for young children.
It’s a fun little locked room mystery where the locked room is a bucolic little British village populated by the usual Burger King Kids Club, which kinda ruins the mystery. Given the ironclad rules of Hollywood we know the demographics of the killer even before the lights dim. It sure as heck ain’t gonna be the black guy.
There are only three white men in town:
- The bumbling cop there to give the girlbosses somebody to clown on.
- The obvious red herring.
- The killer.
Although the big reveal isn’t much of one, the investigation features enough twists and turns to keep your interest, and the clever writing goes above the usual Joss Whedon “ruin the dramatic moment with a wisecrack” kind of humor. Some of the writing is downright clever, and it gets a lot of points never slyly working blue. For some reason Hollywood thinks sex and scat jokes that “will go over the kids head” is the only way to earn the “fin for the whole family” tagline and yes I’m looking at you, He-Man. This one a family movie – and a bit of a throwback in that it really is written for everyone – and it gets a lot of points for that.
Also getting a couple stations touching on the third rail British politics. There’s a n emotional through line which the plot of sheep refuses to confront the challenges that face them even when faced with their own slaughter. The sheep close their eyes and pretend like it isn’t happening, choosing to quietly accept the leadership of a shepherd who wants to sell them out to the highest bidder for his own benefit.
Thankfully, there are a trio of heroes in the flock willing to stand up for what’s right. The brains, the cleric, and the hooligan (an American, LOL) do not follow their herd instincts. Instead, they set out to solve the murder of their shepherd, and along the way preserve their flock’s whole way of life. It’s a delightfully subversive message for a major motion picture these days, and it elevates the movie from average slop to worth watching if there’s nothing else on. It’s fun and mostly harmless.