Displaying items by tag: Rhys Darby

THE SHEEP DETECTIVES

UK/Ireland, 2026, 109 minutes, Colour.

Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Emma Thompson, Hong Chau, Conleth Hill, Nicolas Braun, voices of: Brett Goldstein, Patrick Stewart, Regina Hall, Bella Ramsey, Chris O'Dowd, Rhys Darby, Bryan Cranston, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tommy Birchall.

Directed by Kyle Balda.

No, not inquiries about sheep difficulties. The sheep themselves are the detectives. And, very enjoyably so.

Shepherd George, living in a caravan outside a typical Miss Marple English village, reads detective stories to his sheep. Leader, Lily, usually solves the mystery while others always think it is the maid! They are an interesting flock, a range of different characters, some woolly eyes, some awkward, the aristocratic ram, two rams who like to butt themselves and vehicles, and an aloof leader, Sebastian, whom George has rescued from being the target of dogfights in a carnival. They speak, a range of star voices, varied personalities, some frisky young lambs, enjoying life, devoted to George.

George is genial – he is played by Hugh Jackman. And, then he is murdered.

The local policeman is a bit dimwitted, Nicolas Braun from Succession, but an eager young visitor, journalist, Nicholas Galitzine, ever-ready to help him. And there is the imperious lawyer who comes to read the will, Emma Thompson. Then George’s daughter from the US also turns up, Molly Gordon.

Of course, the sheep are determined to find out who killed George.

The enjoyment of the screenplay relies on the murder mystery, Agatha Christie-style scenario, the listing of suspects, presence, opportunity, profit from the murder. Lily takes charge, clues are found, and she finds all kinds of ways of trying to communicate with the policeman while unable to speak to him.

It is all very entertaining, the suspects, the local butcher, another Shepherd, hotel keeper, local vicar, all with motivations. But, eventually Lily works it out, find ways of communicating with the policeman, mystery solved! There are enough clues for audiences to work out who the murderer is – but probably a good enough mystery not to work out the actual identity of the murderer!

The sheep realise that they are often considered woolly-headed. This is a film to vindicate the sheep and their abilities, and a nice underlying moral, that the sheep reject winter sheep because normally they are all born in spring and summer. A little winter lamb is active in Lily’s manoeuvres – and, of course, welcomed finally into the flock.

Who would have thought that the sheep could have been so entertaining?

1. An entertaining murder mystery? Scenario, clues, based on popular novels, the victim, suspects, investigation? And the contribution of the sheep and the detective work?
2. The English village, the fields, the sheep, the caravan, shops, church, butcher’s, the hotel? The countryside? The musical score?
3. The humour, the MGM lion bleating, the sheep and their various characters, the butting twins, the conversations, jokes, the shepherd who read detective stories to the sheep, Lily’s solving them, the sheep and the murder investigation, fear at crossing the road, the chicken crossing the road, always present, Mopple and his accidents, collaboration with him?
4. George, Hugh Jackman and his charm, reading the detective stories, his invention to help the sheep, his naming all the sheep, Lily after his wife, Sebastian, their characteristics, encouraging them? His death? His reappearances, his ghost for Lily, for Rebecca?
5. The situation, Ham as the greedy butcher, Caleb the shepherd, plans to work with Ham, Beth, the hotel, stealing the letter, the Reverend and George’s donation of the money? The Reverend trying to track down George’s children?
6. The arrival of Elliott, young, enthusiastic, reporter, camera, all the photographs, the crash, returning, collaboration with Tim, and helpful, with the sheep, with the lawyer, ousted from the reading of the will? The sheep and the clues, the chemical on his hands, the hair for the DNA, the revelation, the son from South Africa, the phone call to the lawyer, his visiting his father, the murder? His trying to escape?
7. Rebecca, the daughter, the correspondence, arriving, at the hotel, the visit to her father, losing the hoop, the sheep finding it, leading Tim to find it in the field? Her lies, the visit to her father, the reading of the will, the alibi, her arrest? the winter lamb and the blue and the red on the hooves, Lily helping, the line floor?
8. Tim, the only policeman, slow, ambitious, dignity, procedures, searching, the return, with the sheep? Gradually improving? The collaboration with Elliot? Interrogation of Rebecca? Led by the sheep, working with the sheep, realisations, the arrest?
9. The sheep, the voices, the characters, colours, Lily, leader, solving the mysteries, the clues, prejudice against winter lambs, her judgements, providing the final clues? Sebastian, the Carnival, the brutal fight with the dogs, a winter lamb, alone, saved by George? His stern comments? Saving Lily and Mopple from the dogs, his death? (And the issues of death, forgetting deaths, thinking sheep became clouds, facing the reality of death?)
10. The range of sheep, their characters, the superior knight, the woolly sheep, the young sheep, the playful sheep, the comments and questions, wanting to forget? The little winter lamb and rejection, participating in the case, Lily welcoming him into the flock?
11. The film working well as a murder mystery, characters and suspects, presence, gains, opportunity? And the animation – and the rehabilitation of sheep as stupid animals!

UPROAR

New Zealand, 2023, 110 minutes, Colour.

Julian Denison, Minnie Driver, Rhys Darby, James Rolleston, Mark Michinson, Erana James.

Directed by Paul Middleditch, Hamish Bennett.

Most audiences will enjoy Uproar, especially New Zealand audiences, Maori audiences, and all those sympathetic to Maori history in New Zealand. There are some very serious issues but there is a great deal of humour and a lot of cheerfulness.

We are in Dunedin, 1981, the Springboks to tour New Zealand, rugby games, protests, demonstrations, statements by the Prime Minister Muldoon, media coverage… Quite an amount of footage from the times has been incorporated into this story, making the protests feel even more authentic.

However, this is the story of Josh, 17 years old, a student at an elitist boys college, but with Maori background, rather alone in the school, sometimes awkward in manner, and a very heavy build. He is bullied, spend his lunch break reading in the library, dropping crumbs (pretending that it is dandruff) and upbraided by the starchy librarian who demands silence when there is practically no one in the library.

The important thing is that Josh is played by Julian Denison. Audiences first saw him as the young friend in Paper Planes. But most audiences – and there were many – remember him best as the young boy in The Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He has since been in some American films including Deadpool 2, but here he shines, has a wonderful screen presence, and we enjoy every moment that he is on screen.

He feels trapped in his life. His father died several years earlier. He and his older brother, the football champion at the college (and played by James Rolleston who, a decade earlier, made a great impact in Boy) but the victim of an accident, somewhat depressed, recuperating at home. Their mother, British, and feeling not particularly welcomed when she came to New Zealand with her married husband, is played with some force by Minnie Driver. She works as a cleaner at the school, and the principal, haughtily self-important, and the family are dependent on his decisions. He wants the older brother to be the coach of the top football team – and he does. He wants Josh to play in the football team, lending his considerable weight to the scrum.

Josh also delivers papers and is friendly with some of the local Maori girls who are gearing up to join the protests. But, there is a possible saviour for Josh, in the form of Brother Madigan, the enthusiastic but somewhat self-effacing, literature teacher who encourages Josh to join the drama club, to do auditions, to develop his talent. But, his mother will have none of that.

As the film progresses, things become more complex, the Springboks visit, matches at the school, city protests and Josh becoming involved, graffiti on the Maori Hall, and the increasing pressure on Josh, seemingly forever trapped.

Audiences will enjoy the way the final stands is made on the football field, a wonderful sit-in, to the dismay of the college principal. And, the moral of the story is to be oneself, to be honest, and the hope for appreciation.

1. An engaging New Zealand film? 1981, memories of New Zealand history, Maori history? Football, the Springbok tour, protests? Racism?
2. The Dunedin settings, the city views, the beach on the coast, homes, the streets and deliveries, the Maori Hall, the school, assemblies, corridors, football fields, locker rooms…? Authentic feel? The musical score?
3. Josh and telling his story? The screen presence of Julian Denison, engaging? Age, increasing size, self-conscious and not self-conscious? His family history, the sad death of his father, his being young, his mother, British, not easily accepted in Maori families, hard work at the school, Jamie, football career, awards, the accident, depression, convalescence? The family dependent on the school?
4. The everyday routines, Josh at home, helping Jamie with the convalescence, exercises? The deliveries, chat with the two women, going to school, ridiculed, the football kicked at him, reading the library, district librarian wanting silence, eating, his exploration of dandruff instead of crumbs on the desk, his friendship with Brother Madigan, the invitation to the drama club, eventually going, Madigan’s praise, “not crap”, telling his mother? His being trapped in his situation, Maori, but not identifying with all aspects? The girls and their influence, required to play football, in the scrum, his practising?
5. 1981, South Africa,, apartheid, the Springbok tour, the protests, Maori protests against racism, the glimpses of the prime minister, Muldoon, his statements, the protests, police? The actual rallies, some silent, in the city, the phalanx of the police, the batons, the protesters marching forward, the clown, his being bashed, Joshua filming everything, his glasses, knocked over, crawling to get them, escaping with the camera – and his photo on the front page?
6. The principal of the school, the assemblies, the ethos of this kind of public school, the speeches, Joshua and the touch of humour, the captain of the rugby team, the response of the schoolboys? The coach and his speech? Subsidiary to the principal? The principal and the ethos of unity, yet a elitist, the footballers and the racism, the graffiti on the Maori house, Josh identifying the captain and his similar graffiti? The coach, giving them all the alibi, if his sleeping, Jamie telling the police, the police investigation?
7. The background of the protests, the local games with the schools, Josh and his presence on the field, Jamie invited to coach, the deals with the principal, Shirley and her continued work, Jamie and his status, Josh playing football?
8. Brother Madigan, character, eccentric, teaching literature, the boys in the reading, his faith in Josh, the New Zealand play, Foreskin, his proposal to Josh, declining, agreeing, at the session with the five things in the awkward boy trying to name food? The speech from As You Like It, filmed, the delivery, the goblet or not? The audition, the praise of the examiner? The possibilities for the future, his mother forbidding it, her desperate speech about keeping the family together, her own isolation within the community, dependence on the school? Josh and his doing his audition, filming, Madigan watching it, taking it for Shirley to watch, the transformation?
9. The boys, the captain of the team, the graffiti, the burning of the hall? The response of the community, helping in the cleanup? Josh and is leading the singing and the exercises?
10. The culmination of the protests, the school and a status, the interventions of the principal, the speeches of the coach, inspiring and banal, onto the field, the previous victory in the celebration, Josh sitting on the field, his mother joining him, Jamie, Madigan, some of the players… And the exasperation of the principal?
11. Shirley driving Josh to the sea, member of his father, her speech?
12. Josh, trapped in his situation, finding himself, the support he received, his future?