‘The Sheep Detectives’ is a Wonderfully Charming and Uplifting Talking-Animal Mystery

May 5, 2026

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Baa, yeah! (CREDIT: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
© 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.)

Starring: Live-Action Cast: Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Tosin Cole, Hong Chau, Emma Thompson, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Conleth Hill, Mandeep Dhillon Voice Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, Rhys Darby

Director: Kyle Balda

Running Time: 109 Minutes

Rating: PG for Pastoral Peril

Release Date: May 8, 2026 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) is a simple shepherd in the English village of Denbrook. His days are spent tending to his flock, while his nights are spent reading mystery novels to them. Who could possibly have something against such a seemingly purehearted man? Well, he must have had his enemies, based on the fact that he suddenly dies one day, and the evidence points to murder. A colorful cast of potential suspects quickly emerges at his will reading, with his lawyer (Emma Thompson), his long-lost daughter (Molly Gordon), another shepherd (Tosin Cole), a local merchant (Hong Chau), a priest (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), and a butcher (Conleth Hill) all making themselves at least a little bit suspicious. Meanwhile, the in-over-his-head local policeman (Nicholas Braun) tries to sort it all out, and an interloping journalist thinks he’s found a career-defining scoop in the most unlikely of places. And of course the whole story is presented through the perspective of those titular Sheep Detectives, with the preternaturally clever Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) leading the way. Sheep, shepherd thyself?

What Made an Impression?: Drawn to Life: The Sheep Detectives is based on German writer Leonie Swann’s novel Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story, which is a bit surprising, as I would’ve guessed that the source material would have been a children’s picture book. Whatever the provenance, though, all of the ovine creatures are fully realized with deep, painterly care. This is one of the most emotionally hefty performances of Louis-Dreyfus’ career, and pretty much all of the other woolly companions make indelible impressions as well. Could this prove to be the latest film that will raise a generation of vegetarians? At the very least they’ll be mutton-avoiders.
Tropey and a Little Twisty: If you’re somehow worried that a movie with a premise like this one could get wildly explicit, you can rest easily knowing that The Sheep Detectives slots comfortably in what’s known as the “cozy mystery.” Which is to say, it takes place in a tight-knit bucolic community, the detectives are amateur (or amateur-ish), profanity is nonexistent, and any sex and violence is shunted offscreen. So if you’re a fan of this particular genre, you’ll surely see the gears turning as they normally do, though there’s still room to stretch out for surprising character beats. Or even if those beats fit within the typical mold, they’re emotionally satisfying enough that you can forgive any obviousness.
A Lesson That Never Gets Old: I imagine some viewers will be able to finger the killer right away, and that the humor will be a little too cute for some crowds. But even if that’s so, don’t be shocked if you find yourself bawling like a little lamb by the end. That’s because this movie is here to impart a lesson that I’m sure you’ve heard before, though it’s one that never gets old and that’s always worth repeating. Which is to say: kindness is everything. It’s what binds us together, protects us, makes the dark times bearable, and ensures that those we love most will never truly be gone. And The Sheep Detectives has done us all a great kindness by virtue of existing.

The Sheep Detectives is Recommended If You Like: Babe, Cozy mysteries, Legal documents being treated like airings of grievances, The countryside

Grade: 4 out of 5 Hooves

Best Film Performances of the 2010s

June 22, 2020

jmunney Best of the 2010s, Best of the Decade, Cinema , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

CREDIT: YouTube Screenshots

Back in April, I revealed my lists of the best podcasts, TV shows, TV episodes, albums, songs, and movies of the 2010s. I declared that that was it for my Best of the Decade curating for this particular ten-year cycle. But now I’m back with a few more, baby! I’ve been participating in a series of Best of the 2010s polls with some of my online friends, and I wanted to share my selections with you. We’re including film performances, TV performances, directors, and musical artists, so get ready for all that.

First up is Film Performances. Any individual performance from any movie released between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2019 was eligible, whether it was live-action, voice-only, or whatever other forms on-screen acting take nowadays. For actors who played the same character in multiple movies, each movie was considered separately.

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‘Charlie’s Angels’ Doesn’t Do Much to Justify Its Existence in 2019, Except When It Gets Really Silly

November 12, 2019

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CREDIT: Chiabella James/Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Entertainment

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, Ella Balinska, Elizabeth Banks, Patrick Stewart, Djimon Hounsou, Sam Claflin, Noah Centineo, Nat Faxon

Director: Elizabeth Banks

Running Time: 119 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Deafening Explosions and a Lot of Flexible Legwork

Release Date: November 15, 2019

Globetrotting in 2019: who needs it? I, for one, cannot say I find it particularly necessary after watching the 2019 edition of Charlie’s Angels. As three gadget-toting, butt-kicking, espionage-deploying young women chase a McGuffin around multiple continents, what do they, or any person of any age for that matter, have to offer us that we haven’t been offered before? Maybe something new is theoretically out there somewhere, but what I see are mostly a bunch of competently (and frequently goofily) staged action scenes. I’ve never previously seen any Charlie’s Angels TV episode or movie in its entirety, but the main feeling this one gave me was a nagging sense of “been there, done that.” (Although, it is worth noting, there is nary a whiff of the “three little girls” paternalistic energy of the original.)

Despite that shortcoming, I suspect that Elizabeth Banks, who wrote and directed and also stars as Bosley (or rather, one of the Bosleys), is not necessarily too worried by the plot being overly paint-by-numbers. As long as our new batch of Angels (Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Sabinska) get to show off some personality, there can be a feature-length rasion d’être. For the most part, they just go where the story demands that they go, but occasionally there are flashes of extreme goofball energy. Naomi Scott wears a fantastic red dress because why not? K-Stew makes “beep boop” noises while cracking a safe just for the hell of it. And then during the credits there is an onslaught of cameos: a few make obvious sense for this movie, but most of them are breathtakingly, delightfully random. So at least there’s a little bit of fun to get these angels flying.

Charlie’s Angels is Recommended If You Like: Flirting with Noah Centineo, Original pop soundtracks

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Bosleys

This Is a Movie Review: ‘The Kid Who Would Be King’ is a Goofy and Honorable Rendition of the King Arthur Legend

January 14, 2019

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CREDIT: Kerry Brown/Twentieth Century Fox

This review was originally published on News Cult in January 2019.

Starring: Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Dean Chaumoo, Angus Imrie, Patrick Stewart, Rebecca Ferguson, Tom Taylor, Rhianna Doris, Denise Gough

Director: Joe Cornish

Running Time: 132 Minutes

Rating: PG for Some Creepy Dark Magic and Middle School Bullying

Release Date: January 25, 2019

In the course of human history, it is always the children’s time to inherit the Earth. Thus, if all is right, then every generation gets the re-telling of the Arthurian legend it deserves. Not only does The Kid Who Would Be King deliver on this front as entertainment, but it is also about how young people, however modest their origins, can rise up to prove themselves and be upright, inspiring leaders. Middle schooler Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) randomly stumbles upon a sword at a construction site, so he pulls it out of a stone and takes it home, totally unaware that it is the legendary Excalibur. He soon finds himself embroiled in a generations-long fight against Arthur’s sister Morgana le Fay (Rebecca Ferguson) as she uses dark magic to take over the world. He teams up with his best friend Bedders (Dean Chaumoo) and converts some school bullies into allies, rendering the whole affair a lot more noble than you might expect a kid-friendly version of this story to be.

The biggest, and certainly showiest, highlight (as is the case in so many King Arthur stories) is Merlin (Angus Imrie), who here takes the form of a skinny young lad, as he is a wizard with a bit of a reputation for aging backwards. (Patrick Stewart occasionally pops in to play his older version, partly to look the part to anyone who doubts he is an actual ancient wizard.) There are some fish-out-of-water gags that really hit the spot, as Merlin disguises himself as a new schoolmate of Alex’s, declaring himself a “normal, contemporary British schoolboy.” Then there is the mesmerizing way he conjures spells, which is a basically a series of combinations of jazz hands and finger snaps. Imrie must be some sort of champion finger-snapper. Basically, if you like your Excalibur stories to feature jokes about how fast food consists of beetle blood, crushed animal bones, and beaver urine as well as lessons about living according to a code of honor, decency, and bravery, then The Kid Who Would Be King is just what you need.

The Kid Who Would Be King is Recommended If You Like: A Kid in King Arthur’s Court, The Goonies, Thor

Grade: 3 out of 5 Finger Snaps

 

This Is a Movie Review: Mother of Mercy, Is This the End of ‘Logan’?

February 28, 2017

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logan-dafne-keen-hugh-jackman

This review was originally published on News Cult in February 2017.

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant

Director: James Mangold

Running Time: 135 Minutes

Rating: R for Relentless, Vengeful Bodily Harm and a DGAF Attitude to Language

Release Date: March 3, 2017

Logan marks the ninth time that Hugh Jackamn is donning the muttonchops and adamantium claws to play indestructible X-Man Wolverine. At this point, for general audiences and fanboys alike to care, there simply MUST be something new to offer this go-round. Both of Wolverine’s previous solo films kind of fulfilled that dictum, but 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine otherwise totally missed the mark, while 2013’s The Wolverine felt too inconsequential. Logan ain’t having any of that. Set in a semi-apocalyptic near future, the film streamlines the muddled continuity down of the X-universe to its essence and gets right down to business.

Logan and an unstable, nonagenarian Professor X (Patrick Stewart, relevant as ever) are tasked with transferring the preteen Laura (Dafne Keen) to safety. In this future, mutants have mostly died out and no new ones have been born for two decades (the reason for this is revealed in a quick bit of exposition, so keep your ears peeled), but Laura displays abilities very reminiscent of our title character, suggesting that the mutant gene may not have died out completely. What we have here is a classic Western story structure about transporting human cargo. This makeshift family treks along dusty Oklahoma highways in search of a supposed Eden, avoiding the evil scientist forces that constantly plague this world’s heroes.

In a first for the franchise, Logan is rated R, and it does not shy away from earning that rating. With Wolverine’s penchant for slicing his enemies to smithereens, this potential was always there. And this is not just bloodlust for the sake of it. Logan does not have any new powers in this iteration, but he does deploy them in unprecedented fashion. Rendered sick by the same culprit that killed off the rest of mutantkind, there is greater vulnerability to his carnage. His earlier appearances have not lacked for thrillingly hardcore action, but with his healing power, the stakes have never been as high as they are in Logan. Every thrash of his claw becomes profoundly cathartic.

Logan works primarily as an acting showcase for Jackman, Stewart, and Keen. This entry just solidifies the Aussie’s performance as one of the most iconic bits of casting in cinema history. Stewart plays the telepathic leader in a key that I would have never anticipated. I am not entirely sure it all works, but it is undoubtedly riveting, and I admire Stewart for venturing into such dangerous territory. Keen is a spitfire and a revelation. It takes a special breed of 11-year-old to go toe-to-toe with a hairy beast, and she’s got what it takes. All signs point to Jackman hanging up the claws for good after this entry, and if this means that Keen can inherit the mantle, we are in good hands.

Logan is Recommended If You Like: The berserker scene from X2, The Hateful Eight, The Nice Guys, Looper

Grade: 4 out of 5 Decapitations