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Written by: Craig Mazin (screenplay by, screen story by), Leonie Swann (based on the novel 'Three Bags Full' by)
Directed by: Kyle Balda
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Brett Goldstein, Patrick Stewart, Regina Hall, Bella Ramsey, Chris O'Dowd, Rhys Darby, Bryan Cranston, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Conleth Hill, Nicholas Bruan, Molly Gordon
Rated: PG
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Plot
Every night a shepherd reads aloud a murder mystery, pretending his sheep can understand. When he is found mysteriously dead, the sheep conclude they will have to solve the case themselves.
Verdict
It's a sweet tale that's part mystery mixed with a children's tale about sheep. While sheep try to solve a mystery, they also confront death, grief, and how to deal with it. I didn't expect such a poignant and emotional take, and on top of that this provides a solid mystery that's surprisingly coherent.
Watch It.
Review
George (Hugh Jackman) loves being a shepherd, opening the movie by stating how much he likes his sheep, taking care of them, and in turn his life. He even reads his sheep mystery books every evening. What he doesn't realize is that the sheep understand completely and can even talk among themselves.
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| Hugh Jackman plays George Hardy |
I don't know how the sheep communicate without being audible, and they even talk with each other when a human is nearby. It's something that cant' be adequately explained, so it isn't.
The sheep are able to force themselves to forget upsetting or painful memories. They also believe sheep and people don't die but turn into clouds. That belief is challenged when they find as unresponsive George lying on the ground outside of his trailer. Faced with the uncomfortable truth, many attempt to will themselves to forget George so they don't have to face the pain. Lily decides not to forget, concluding it's murder and deciding to use what she's learned from mystery books George has read them to solve the crime. She's joined by Mopple and Sebastian.
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| Brett Goldstein, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tommy Birchall, Regina Hall voice Reggie & Ronnie, Lily, Winter Lamb, Cloud |
Reporter Elliot (Nicholas Galitzine) on assignment in the town to cover a meager festival also thinks George was murdered. While the local, inept policeman Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun) tries to write it off as a heart attack, Elliot pushes him to investigate. The humans and police investigate in parallel. George had company that night. If he had a heart attack why would he go outside? Most mysterious, one hand is died blue and the other green. Blue makes sense as George invented a medicine for the sheep that turns his hands blue. The green is baffling.
George had two twin children, and it turns out he was incredibly rich despite being a shepherd. Daughter Rebecca (Molly Gordon) recently arrived in town and the inheritance provides her motive. While the sheep find an important clue, they have to lead Tim to find it as he's out of his depth.
With Rebecca looking like the culprit, I guessed so early in the movie it had to be misdirection. Lily also has second thoughts. She teams up with others from the flock to find the truth. In turn they use various means to relay that information to Tim.
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| Molly Gordon plays, Julia Louis-Dreyfus voices Rebecca, Lily |
With a lot of help from the sheep, Tim manages to 'solve' the murder just before Rebecca is taken away. This does a great job of providing all the pieces to solve the mystery. Often times movie resort to making it an impossible puzzle. This mystery is comparatively straightforward.
This is darker than I expected. Not only was Sebastian a circus ram forced to fight and later saved by George, this confront death and grief. The sheep will themselves to forget any difficult memories. While that helps them remain happy, as Lily points out forgetting George would mean losing out on many good memories in trying to erase grief. That's a message with a lot of depth, and the movie has a lot of heart.
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