THE SHEEP DETECTIVES - - Not Baaaad

Review by Adam Donato

The Sheep Detectives is somewhat of an odd choice for a Mother’s Day release. Not quite as odd of a choice as Mortal Kombat II. Surely, The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Michael will still be dominating for the older female demographic. The Sheep Detectives is more for general family audiences. Hugh Jackman is the front man on the poster with his gang of furry little friends. After a deadly crime is committed, it’s up to the sheep to help solve the case to save the farm. Something like this needs to have a lot of charm to make an impression during a crowded summer slate. Does The Sheep Detectives have the wool to catch families’ attention?

On the surface, this looks like a cheesy family flick and it is, but it delivers on the two things most essential to a family film: humor and heart. Director Kyle Balda is one of Illumination’s men as he directed two Minions movies and Despicable Me 3. So it’s safe to say he has his finger on the pulse of what casual families find funny in theaters. There’s silly jokes throughout for those who are game for goofy comedy like this. The movie gets as emotional as something like this can get with themes about community and death. Nothing too heavy for kids, but also not something audiences will be thinking about a week later. 

The movie is a whodunnit mystery. The crime wouldn’t have been solved without the sheep, but the real MVP of the investigation and the movie as a whole is Nicholas Braun as the haplessly dimwitted solo police officer of this small town. Braun is recently most notable from the hit series Succession, but 2000’s kids knew he plays an excellent idiot since his days at Sky High. While it looks like Hugh Jackman is the lead of the feature, he really doesn’t get a lot of screen time and the movie is really more of an ensemble because of it. In this absence of someone in the spotlight, Braun takes full advantage of the opportunity and goofball’s his way into audiences’ hearts. 

The sheep are all computer generated. They don’t look terrible and aren’t distracting. The movie does a good job at keeping them involved, but also grounded as much as they can. Anybody who has had a positive relationship with a pet or animal will be able to relate to this movie and attach sentiment to these creatures. There’s a sequence when two of the sheep have to cross a concrete road for the first time that is just too funny. The humor can sometimes be screaming goat coded, but on the whole they’re a sweet and innocent little lot. 

The Sheep Detectives is a wholesome little movie for families to enjoy. It’s interesting Amazon would release this in theaters when it shoves other movies with seemingly more box office potential straight to streaming. Regardless, The Sheep Detectives is good enough that it won’t have audiences counting sheep, but instead caring for them. Just like the sheep in the movie, it also isn’t the most memorable movie for non-family audiences.

The Sheep Detectives sheers into theaters May 8th!

Rating: 3/5