Producers: Lindsay Doran, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner   Director: Kyle Balda   Screenplay: Craig Mazin   Cast: Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Tosin Cole, Hong Chau, Emma Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, Rhys Darby and Tommy Birchall   Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios

Grade: C+

One senses a desperation to be embraced as the new “Babe” in Kyle Balda’s very loose adaptation of Leonie Swann’s 2005 novel “Three Bags Full.”  The movie is still a murder mystery, but it’s redesigned as a family-friendly affair capitalizing on the fact that the detectives that solve the crime are a flock of anthropomorphic sheep. 

One can wonder, though, whether kids will be much interested in trying to unravel a sometimes quite dark plot involving a death, however lovable the CGI sheep, and whether adults will be much intrigued by a scenario that resembles low-grade Agatha Christie.   That leaves “The Sheep Detectives”—a title that itself renders one a mite incredulous over the notion that anybody would have thought reminding audiences of the 1978 Neil Simon flop “The Cheap Detective” was a good idea—falling into a mediocre no-man’s-land.

The first act presents Hugh Jackman having a good old time playing George Hardy, who lives in a caravan in a field surrounded by his sheep, to whom he reads mystery stories before sending them off to sleep each night.  What he doesn’t realize is that they understand the tales, debating the solutions among themselves (in English, of course, though they can’t converse with humans like George) while waxing philosophical about their own existence (the accepted belief, for instance, is that when they die, they turn into clouds).

When George’s body is found outside the caravan one morning, the inclination of nice but spacey local cop Tim Derry (Nicholaus Braun, overdoing the bumbling) is to dismiss his death as a heart attack, but Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George’s favorite and the acknowledged leader in deduction among the flock, is dubious, noticing the green and blue paints on his hands.  She suspects murder and encourages her fellows to investigate with her.

Though there are amusing detours along the way, like the terror the steep feel about crossing a road, or how they must sneak into places where clues might be found, there are also quite dark elements.  Most notable is the flashback to the way in which Sebastian (Bryan Cranston), the loner ram, came to be part of the flock, and a standoff between him and two vicious dogs.  There’s also a curious sidebar about the flock, except for pensive Mopple (Chris Dowd), having the practice of disremembering anything that becomes too unsettling, which amounts to a clear impediment to investigating George’s death.

Nonetheless Lilly, Mopple and Sebastian are mildly engaging characters, and so are others among the flock, including wise old Sir Ritchfield (Patrick Stewart), ditzy Zora (Bella Ramsey), diva-esque Cloud (Regina Hall), nervous Wool-Eyes (Rhys Darby) and the rowdy pair of Ronnie and Reggie (both voiced by Brett Goldstein).  There’s also a winsome winter lamb (Tommy Birchall), ostracized by the others, who’s nameless until the end.

And there are plenty of humans for them to scrutinize, including intrusive, emotional hotelier Beth Pennock (Hong Chau); Caleb (Tosin Cole), the shepherd next door who had a bad relationship with George and now has eyes on his sheep; town butcher Ham (Conleth Hill), always ready with his knives; and Revered Hillcoate (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), with whom George had some mysterious financial arrangement.

A few out-of-towners are also involved: Rebecca Hampstead (Molly Gordon), the daughter no one knew George had, who arrives unexpectedly and, as his heir, falls under suspicion; Lydia Harbottle (Emma Thompson), George’s haughty lawyer, who shows up with a will containing lots of surprises; and Elliot Matthews (Nicholas Galitzine), an eager reporter who’d come to town to cover the ridiculously trivial town arts festival and gotten stranded after wrecking his car trying to leave.

It would be futile to try to rehearse the labyrinthine route Lilly and her cohorts take to assemble their evidence and prod dimwitted Officer Derry to have a eureka moment and outdo Poirot in unmasking the villain.  Suffice it to say the flock succeeds in finding justice for their beloved master.

The humans in the cast seem to be enjoying themselves playing what might be called their Christie-like caricatures, with Jackson and Thompson excelling though everybody falls easily into the nonsensical mood.  The voice work is also excellent down the line.  Production designer Suzie Davis has contrived an attractive little hamlet, and cinematographer George Steel gives the visuals a lovely sheen, while editors Paul Machliss and Martin Walsh work to maintain clarity amid the confusion and Christophe Beck adds a score that sometimes gets overly bouncy.

As to the sheep, the animation is okay, but as “Babe” showed, it’s the pigs and dogs, not the sheep, that are the really winning animals.                      

Fairly pleasant but instantly forgettable, “The Sheep Detectives” makes one yearn for the much more engaging Shaun.