The Sheep Detectives (Review) - A reverse British Invasion is happening in Film
A heartwarming, feel-good, well-constructed, run-of-the-mill British family comedy has one very interesting twist...
For the uninitiated, Working Title is the reason that we had a renaissance in the British film industry in the late 80s, 90s, and into the 2000s. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are considered legends, akin to, potentially, Walt Disney himself, in the British Film world. They brought back a huge amount of cachet, both cultural and financial, to the United Kingdom and its film industry, and specifically England, and even more specifically, London.
The Sheep Detectives is in the canon of feel-good British family comedies and was produced by Working Title. However, because of the scale of Working Title and the encroachment of the American film industry on the British film industry, which has been ongoing for a very long time, The Sheep Detectives is full of Americans. Chock-full of Americans (with an Australian, technically, at the helm).
Though Hugh Jackman doesn't appear much in the film overall, it is interesting to me that films like this have shifted from the local to the global. Often, a film like The Sheep Detectives would come out in UK cinemas, every child in this country would watch it, and we would all know its name, but if mentioned to any of our international counterparts, they would be stumped.
Now Nicholas Braun, aka Greg from Succession, is pulling off a near-perfect British accent as a clueless cop in the middle of a sleepy English village. Hugh Jackman, noted Australian, with no accent change, plays a local shepherd. Molly Gordon, with no accent change, features prominently in this film. The sheep featured in this film include voices from Regina Hall, Julia Louis-Dreyfus,And Bryan Cranston. Like, what is happening?
It is not lost on me that a film this heartwarming and this quintessentially British is now stacked with American talent. It says a lot about where our local industry and American industry globally are going. The fact that Working Title, already prestigious and very well known in the film industry, could attract such high-level British and American talent to this sleepy little children's film shows that we are no longer in an era of full American cultural hegemony.
I'm not saying The Sheep Detectives is doing anything radical in this regard; rather, I think it signals a shift. I can't come to you and talk to you about the virtues of this film on the basis that it's good, because it is good, for kids. You may enjoy it as a fun evening with friends, with family, and you'll certainly enjoy the performances.
What I think you may benefit from understanding about The Sheep Detectives is that it signals a shift, one that I think makes the film all the richer. We may be moving towards a time when American talent integrates more fully into the norms and processes of international and local film than in the past. It makes our films all the richer for it, but it does feel a bit alien, or rather, remarkable, as we embark on this transition.
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