SOPHIE AND SHEBA (2010)

Name: SOPHIE AND SHEBA (2010)
Item: SOPHIE AND SHEBA (2010)
Author: Review

"Never Be Afraid to Fall."

Family Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

Credits →

What You Need To Know:

SOPHIE AND SHEBA is a 2010 Canadian family drama movie about a ballerina and her pet elephant working at a traveling circus. As the daughter of a struggling family zoo, Sophie (Brittany Bristow) is forced to sell her pet Sheba the Elephant to Allistair Winston (John Rhys-Davies), a cynical circus owner. She agrees to be a circus animal trainer in the hopes of earning Sheba’s freedom. Meanwhile, Sophie faces friction with Winston’s eccentric cast of performers. Can Sophie survive in this environment?

In terms of worldview, SOPHIE AND SHEBA leans towards the Christian view of empathy, family, and the ethical treatment of animals. Sophie and her family run a zoo for abandoned animals. Sophie has a strong bond with both her parents, treats God's creatures with dignity and respect, and helps a circus dancer process his guilt from a past traumatic event. It has decent cinematography, but the script leaves a lot to be desired. Moreover, there are scenes of animal cruelty, men getting into a fist fight, and a man going shirtless for a minute. Therefore, MOVIEGUIDE® recommends caution for older children and their families.

Content:

(CC, BB, VV, N, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

A strong Christian worldview with an emphasis on animal rights, the protagonist lives in a zoo that houses abandoned and unwanted animals, the heroine calls out animal cruelty (such as whipping an elephant and putting a jaguar to death), she helps a circus performer process the loss of his wife, the protagonist has a positive relationship with her mother and father, and she convinces the circus workers to turn against their capitalist boss;

Foul Language:

No foul language;

Violence:

Moderate violence throughout but no blood or gore, two men get into a fist fight over a disagreement, a jaguar scratches the face of an animal trainer, a man shoots a jaguar to death with a hunting rifle, a man threatens to shoot an elephant with the same weapon, and a man mentions losing his wife after she fell during an aerial circus dance;

Sex:

No sex, but a major subplot of the heroine flirting and kissing one of the circus performers, and an end credits scene were the heroine and her boyfriend do ballet together;

Nudity:

A man is briefly shirtless during a circus rehearsal;

Alcohol Use:

No alcohol use;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drug use;

Miscellaneous Immorality:

A woman blackmails a circus owner on live TV, the heroine steals a ventriloquist dummy as leverage, and the heroine’s parents sell her pet elephant without telling her prior to the sale.

More Detail:

SOPHIE AND SHEBA is a 2010 Canadian family drama movie about a ballerina and her pet elephant working at a traveling circus. As the daughter of a struggling family zoo, Sophie (Brittany Bristow) must sell her pet Sheba the Elephant to Allistair Winston (John Rhys-Davies), a cynical circus owner. Out of desperation, she agrees to be a circus animal trainer in the hopes of earning Sheba’s freedom. Meanwhile, Sophie faces friction with Winston’s eccentric cast of performers. Can Sophie survive in this environment?

The movie follows Sophie, a 17-year-old with a passion for ballet and bonding with animals. She wants to graduate as a top-performing ballerina, but her family’s modest finances limit her abilities. From childhood, she developed a close friendship with Sheba, a fully-grown elephant who struggled to communicate with humans and other animals. In the present, Sophie’s parents sell the elephant to pay Sophie’s tuition for an elite ballet academy.

Out of frustration, Sophie crashes a TV interview with circus mogul Allistair Winston and accuses him of performing “animal cruelty” to Sheba, his newest animal attraction. To save his reputation, Winston hastily hires Sophie on the spot as his newest animal trainer. Sophie accepts the bargain on the condition that she could one day earn enough money to buy back Sheba’s freedom. Sophie interacts with the rest of Winston’s crew of aerial dancers, jaguar trainers, and other performers. She develops a close bond with some of these performers but soon learns of the circus’s tragic past. Will Sophie be able to overcome this trauma?

SOPHIE AND SHEBA succeeds on a technical filmmaking level but struggles to rise above its predestined mediocrity. The movie has decent editing and cinematography, but it blends in with every other family drama movie released in the late 2000s era. It has an uninspired “gold tint” color grading, and the camera angles are nothing to write home about.

In terms of worldview, SOPHIE AND SHEBA leans towards the Christian view of empathy, family, and the ethical treatment of animals. Sophie and her family run a zoo for abandoned animals. Sophie has a strong bond with both her parents, treats God’s creatures with dignity and respect, and helps a circus dancer process his guilt from a past traumatic event. Throughout the movie, Sophie befriends the other circus performers and convinces them that their boss isn’t what he seems. This movie isn’t explicitly Christian, but the protagonist takes a stand against animal cruelty and servitude. However, there is a dark truth.

In terms of problematic elements, SOPHIE AND SHEBA is somewhat surprising. The movie is devoid of blood, sex, and foul language, but has moderate bursts of violence. However, the characters briefly mention the death of a circus performer who lost her life after failing a critical aerial routine. In a few scenes, a trainer uses a whip against Sheba the elephant as punishment.

In one scene, two men get into a fist fight over a circus disagreement. A jaguar is shot to death with a hunting rifle (the death occurs off-screen, but the bullet shot echoes throughout the circus). Lastly, a man tries to shoot Sheba in the eye but misses his aim. There is no on-screen sex, but Sophie flirts and kisses a male circus trainer twice on-screen. In one scene, a male character is shown shirtless while cleaning up a circus arena.

The shining beacon of SOPHIE AND SHEBA is John Rhys-Davies’ performance as the antagonist. Davies brings a level of “aloofness” to an otherwise generic “evil circus capitalist.” Davies has a running gag of being a failed ventriloquist, and his “doll” is frequently commandeered by Sophie and her friends. It is the only spotlight in an otherwise bland production.

SOPHIE AND SHEBA offers some good values but is trapped in a circus of mediocrity. The protagonist is a staunch believer in protecting animals, has a strong bond with her family, and redeems one of the circus performers. It has decent cinematography, but the script leaves a lot to be desired. Moreover, there are scenes of animal cruelty, men getting into a fist fight, and a man going shirtless for a minute. Therefore, MOVIEGUIDE® recommends caution for older children and their families.