A whimsical shepherd (Hugh Jackman) reads dime detective novels to his flock every evening, imagining they can understand him. (The title is a slightly clumsy play on the phrase “cheap detective.”) When one morning he is found dead, his faithful ovine companions, by now experts in murder mystery ratiocination, realize that they have all the clues they need to find the killer and avenge their friend. If only they weren’t, you know, sheep.

As talking barnyard critter movies go, there’s not a lot to compare this with. Babe, maybe, but that was sweet simplicity compared to this considerably more twisty and emotionally complex comedy. It’s an earnest little sleeper that will delight children and entertain their parents while surreptitiously dropping lessons on life – and the realities of death. Hard to do. There’s wisdom amid the silliness. I liked thislively and charming film way more than I thought I would. I love it when that happens. 

Emma Thompson, Nicholas Braun, Hong Chao and others do the human-actor honors, and the numerous star-studded voice cast just can’t be bleat. (109 min)