Matthew Turner | On 21, Sep 2024

Director: Jon Watts
Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams
Certificate: 15

Wolfs premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.

Written and directed by Jon Watts (who helmed all three of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies), this light-hearted comedy crime caper is really just a showcase for the comic chemistry of its two co-stars, George Clooney and Brad Pitt. As such, Wolfs is enjoyable enough in the moment, but you can’t help wishing it had a little more meat on its bones.

The film begins in a hotel room, where a woman named Margaret (Amy Ryan) suddenly realises she has a dead body on her hands, as the young male prostitute (Austin Abrams) she’d picked up bounces too hard on her bed and crashes through a glass table. In desperation, Margaret calls a number on her phone and a “fixer” arrives in the shape of George Clooney, who tells her to relax and he’ll take care of everything.

However, moments later, Clooney and Margaret are both shocked when another fixer (Brad Pitt) walks through the door, claiming to work for the hotel manager, Pam. (The credits list the fixers as Margaret’s Man and Pam’s Man, but lets just call them Clooney and Pitt, as that’s clearly what the movie wants.)

With the two “lone wolf” fixers forced to reluctantly work together (hence the grammar-troubling title), things quickly go from bad to worse. The script is essentially an excuse for Clooney and Pitt to exude old-fashioned movie star chemistry and bicker with each other charmingly for 108 minutes. The central joke, highlighted by the script, in case you missed it, is that although both men consider themselves lone wolves and unique in being the best at what they do, they are essentially the same person, with the same clothes, mannerisms and way of speaking.

The problem is that that joke wears thin after a while, and when it gets to the point where the movie should change gear, there’s nothing else in the tank. Ultimately, Wolfs is a textbook example of “if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen the movie”, especially as the trailer gives away the main twists and the best gags.

In fairness, there are worse ways to spend 108 minutes than watching Clooney and Pitt sparring with each other, and both actors are on terrific form, particularly when poking fun at their ageing status – running gags about them both needing their reading glasses and so on. In addition, Abrams is terrific as “The Kid” – his comic monologue about how he ended up in that situation is the film’s funniest scene and he completely nails it.

In short, this is a mostly amusing showcase for Clooney and Pitt, but their comic cameraderie is really the only reason to see the film. In other words, Wolfs has a fair amount of bark, but no bite.

Add to Watchlist