Wolfs (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – Follows two lone wolf fixers who are assigned to the same job.

My Take – While the Ocean’s trilogy has many elements, like a star-studded cast, slick plotlines and twists, that make them so re-watchable and great, the absolute highlight of the series has always been the amazing, brilliant and naturally down-to-earth chemistry between Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

Being real life friends, the two are able to easily generate the kind of magic that comes from years of working together and having a ton of fun together. Hence, it came as a genuinely delightful news when it was announced that director- writer Jon Watts (Marvel Studios‘ Spider-Man Trilogy) would be reuniting the two as on screen rivals.

Sure, some maybe disappointed that the reunion is not Ocean’s level extraordinary, however, the film, which released on Apple TV+, never pretends to be interested in being anything more than a basic yet entertaining risk-averse, laid back, low-effort action-comedy. In the sense, it offers exactly what it promises.

A film about Clooney and Pitt bickering constantly from start to finish. Though they look cool in slick leather jackets and grizzly beards, they both got bad backs, use reading glasses, and get to share a bottle of Advil. And indeed, director Watts uses their camaraderie as his main asset to deliver.

The story takes place on a snowy night presumably on Christmas eve, and follows two fixers who are called in to clean-up a mess created in a penthouse hotel room and involves Margaret (Amy Ryan), a high-profile “hard on crime” district attorney. Who finds herself with a presumably dead, college-age Kid (Austin Abrams) with blood on her clothes, and a potentially career-ending scandal if the body, and everything associated with him, doesn’t disappear before the night turns into morning and the morning into the next day.

Desperate, she calls in a fixer (George Clooney), from a number she received from someone she highly trusts, to help her out of the situation. While the fixer relays important instructions and arrives soon after to take care of things, however, his cleanup job is soon interrupted by the arrival of another fixer (Brad Pitt).

It turns out the hotel’s justifiably paranoid owner (voiced by Frances McDormand) saw it all happen on her hidden security cameras, and not wanting a scandal, called her own help to ensure that doesn’t happen. But since neither woman are ready to send their man away these two lone-wolf types reluctantly agree to work together.

What follows are a few twists with the biggest surprise of all being that the third act moves it out of fixing territory and into a thriller one. The predictable flow of events never dulls the fun as director and writer Watts lets these two genuine titans do what they do best: trade barbs, outsmart others, and all with dashing grins on their faces.

Their rivalry is enhanced by the one-liners, facial gestures, and body language that stems from Clooney and Pitt knowing each other so well. Even during action scenes involving New York City car chases and shootouts, director Watts keeps the movie self-contained and his camera squarely on the actors.

Yet, one can’t deny that the central conceit of the film also proves to be its biggest limitation. As once the initial gag gets worn thin, the caper starts to spin its wheels. As story-based complications go, it’s not totally unexpected for an old-school star vehicle of this kind, but by giving the characters a new task i.e., returning the drugs to their rightful owner, keeping the Kid alive until they do, and surviving the night intact, it slowly drains the comedy side out of the action-comedy equation until there’s almost not much humor left at all.

Even the obligatory set pieces that follow the Kid’s transition from prop to character, including one inside a crowded wedding reception hall/disco and a later action sequence fall noticeably short of the imagination, inventiveness, or novelty that characterized director Watts’ work on the Spider-Man trilogy or even his indie feature-length debut, Cop Car (2015), likely a result of a semi-rushed production schedule.

Nevertheless, the chemistry between George Clooney and Brad Pitt is electric, effortlessly blending charm with wit, and intensity as their characters. It is also going to be a pleasure watching this two together. To his credit, Austin Abrams manages to hold himself well despite sharing scenes with the two.

In supporting roles, Amy Ryan, Poorna Jagannathan, Zlatko Burić and Richard Kind are solid. On the whole, ‘Wolfs’ is a throwaway yet relatively entertaining action comedy anchored by Clooney and Pitt‘s onscreen bromance.