Collections Manager Aly Wepplo recommends The Sheep Detectives on DVD.
Summer is busy in the Wood River Valley. Shakespeare in the Park, The Sun Valley Music Festival, and visits with out-of-town friends fill my calendar almost every night of the week. I love it, and when I get back to my living room, I want to watch something cozy. Luckily, I found The Sheep Detectives on DVD from The Community Library.
The Sheep Detectives celebrates the English countryside, small-town life, and the thrill of a good mystery.
It opens on Hugh Jackman, a shepherd living on a grassy hilltop with his flock. Every night, he reads to them from murder mystery novels. Then he heads to bed, and the sheep get down to business: Who is the culprit? What were the means, motive, and opportunity behind the crime?
After years of mystery-solving, the sheep are skilled sleuths. And then a real-life murder shakes their tiny town. The police may not be able to solve the case. It’s up to the sheep to save the day.
This is a stylish movie, full of bright color, beautiful scenery, and smart dialogue.
It’s fun to try to match the voice actors to their sheep counterparts. I won’t completely spoil that game for you, but keep your ears peeled for Brett Goldstein, known for playing Roy Kent on Ted Lasso. The human cast is star-studded, too, including Emma Thompson, Patrick Stewart, Molly Gordon from The Bear, and Nicholas Braun from Succession.
If you fall in love with these woolly heroes, you’re in luck: The movie is based on the German novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, also available at the library.
