Wolfs: Film Review
It’s been 16 years, but Ocean’s Eleven co-stars and close buddies George Clooney and Brad Pitt have finally teamed up once again for Jon Watts’ crime film Wolfs.
When district attorney Margaret (Amy Ryan) winds up with a seemingly dead young man (Austin Abrams) in her hotel room, she calls a fixer (Clooney) to help clean up her mess and make the situation go away. Things become more complicated when a second fixer (Pitt) unexpectedly shows up to deal with the same job. Despite their preference to operate as lone wolves, the fixers must work together to make the problem disappear.
The two fixers are very similar – they’re basically the same person – so they instantly rub each other up the wrong way. They bicker like a couple and disagree on how to fix the mess. This friction works perfectly for Clooney and Pitt, who have that chemistry and rapport built in thanks to their longtime friendship.
While their initial meeting in the hotel is amusing at first, it goes on far too long and their shtick wears thin. This isn’t necessarily Clooney and Pitt’s fault – it’s more the script and pacing. So I was grateful when the kid woke up (this isn’t a spoiler if you’ve seen the marketing) and changed the game. The film really gets going and becomes more entertaining after that. The fixers have no choice but to put aside their differences and form an alliance and the stars work better in this mode.
Clooney and Pitt are well known for their charm and charisma but I found those qualities lacking here. Their characters are stern, serious loners so it wasn’t really required of them. In fact, this feels like a walk in the park and they easily coast by using their star power and preexisting friendship. Thankfully, Abrams brought the humour as the sweet, normal kid completely out of his depth. He made me laugh a lot.
I must admit that I didn’t really follow the story and didn’t feel invested in it. There are some fun setpieces – a wedding reception sequence and a chase spring to mind – but there’s far too much talking. I didn’t dislike the film by any means but it’s nothing to write home about.
On Apple TV+ from Friday 27th September