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“The Sheep Detectives” key art.<\/p>\n
Amazon MGM Studios<\/p>\n
Hugh Jackman has a big winner on his hands with the new family comedy The Sheep Detectives, according to Rotten Tomatoes critics.<\/p>\n
A live-action and CGI animated hybrid, The Sheep Detectives plays in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday. The film stars Jackman<\/a> as George, a shepherd who has the unusual habit of reading whodunit murder mysteries to his sheep every night, unaware they are actually listening. As such, when George turns up dead one morning under mysterious circumstances, his flock is determined to investigate and solve the crime.<\/p>\n Forbes\u2018The Devil Wears Prada 2\u2019: Here\u2019s Why Amari Actress Looks So FamiliarBy Tim Lammers<\/a><\/p>\n Directed by Kyle Balda, The Sheep Detectives<\/a> also stars Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Tosin Cole and Hong Chau, as well as the voices of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O\u2019Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, Rhys Darby and Emma Thompson.<\/p>\n As of Thursday, The Sheep Detectives has earned a 97% \u201cfresh\u201d critics\u2019 score on Rotten Tomatoes\u2019<\/a> Tomatometer based on 68 reviews. RT\u2019s Critics Consensus, Audience Summary and Popcornmeter score are still pending.<\/p>\n What Are Individual Critics Saying About \u2018The Sheep Detectives\u2019?<\/p>\n Guy Lodge of Variety is among the top <\/a>c<\/a>ritics on RT<\/a> who gives The Sheep Detectives a \u201cfresh\u201d score. Lodge writes in his RT review summary, \u201cThere\u2019s wisdom amid the silliness, as the story gently makes a case for the necessity of grief, mindfulness and mortal awareness … That\u2019s more than you might expect from a film called The Sheep Detectives.\u201d<\/p>\n Tim Grierson of AV Club also praises the film in his \u201cfresh\u201d review on RT, writing, \u201cThe Sheep Detectives evokes the sunny spirit of classics like Babe while teaching important lessons about death and community. And it contains a wonderful Julia Louis-Dreyfus performance as a smart sheep who discovers she\u2019s got a lot to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n Forbes\u2018Michael\u2019 Poised To Pass $500 Million Globally In Its Third WeekendBy Tim Lammers<\/a><\/p>\n Nell Minnow of RogerEbert.com also gives The Sheep Detectives a \u201cfresh\u201d score on RT, writing, \u201cIt is accessible enough for younger viewers without condescending to them, yet complex enough to engage an adult audience.<\/p>\n Clarisse Loughrey of the Independent (U.K.) awards The Sheep Detectives a \u201cfresh\u201d score, even though she has some reservations. Loughrey writes in her RT review summary, \u201cIt\u2019s a bit much, to be frank. But at the time, the all-hands-aboard desire to take so absurd a premise and insist it be about something offers its Midsomer Murders-lite world a sense of weight and substance. The melodrama helps land the comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n