Film Review: Wolfs

Wolfs
Director: Jon Watts
Plan B Entertainment and Smokehouses Pictures
Streaming on Apple TV+: 10.27

When Ocean’s Eleven was released in 2001, the chemistry between George Clooney and Brad Pitt was so immediately apparent that many observed that they could become a classic screen duo in the tradition of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, who lit up the screen in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973). After two more Ocean films, a lot of years and more than a few gray hairs, they are fully embracing the suggestion with Wolfs, a movie that seems to exist primarily for this purpose.

When Margaret Kretzer (Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone, Bridge of Spies), a Manhattan District Attorney, has a tryst with an anonymous young man in a hotel room, she finds herself in a compromising situation after the young man unexpectedly dies in an accident. Desperate, Margaret remembers a number she was given by a friend, who told her that the man who would answer could discreetly fix any situation. When Margaret’s Man (Clooney), a smooth and dapper lone wolf, arrives, he assures her that he’s got things covered and no one needs to know a thing. Things get more complicated when Margaret gets a call from the hotel owner, Pamela Dowd-Henry (voiced by Frances McDormand, Fargo, Nomadland), who has been watching on a hidden camera, calls her own guy and Pam’s Man (Pitt), an eerily similar lone wolf, shows up to do the same job. To complicate matters, the Kid (Austin Abrams, Paper Towns, Dash & Lilly) is still alive, and was carrying a backpack filled with stolen drugs. Forced into an uneasy alliance, the rival fixers stumble into a labyrinthine trip through New York City’s underworld, where spiraling chaos pushes them to their limits—these two “wolfs” reluctantly become a mini pack.

Writer-director Jon Watts (Cop Car and the MCU Spider-Man trilogy) gives a stylish and sneaky comedy thriller with a terrific premise that, at times, finds itself struggling to know exactly where to go with it. It’s mostly forgivable, though, in part because it’s more about the journey than the destination, but mostly because the company is so delightful. The dialogue is often quite amusing, and while the comic action is low outstanding set pieces, it moves briskly and with enough atmospheric flair to stay solidly entertaining throughout. The plot is filled with twists and turns that keep things interesting, even if they never quite come together into a truly coherent conclusion. The score by Theodore Shapiro (The Devil Wears Prada, A Simple Favor) is catchy, classy and exciting, and cinematographer Larkin Seiple (Everything Everywhere All At Once) keeps it all looking cool as can be from the first frame to the last. 

Clooney and Pitt are both in top form. Separately, this is the most appealing performance either one has given in five years, and combined, it’s worth even more. Clooney’s brooding combined with Pitt’s snarky, laid-back demeanor is a hoot, as the two fixers try constantly to outsmart, outmaneuver and generally out-perform each other in every way possible, and Pitt drives Clooney mad by refusing to be impressed by anything that he does. It’s such an intoxicatingly fun combination that even if nothing else about the movie worked, it would still be worth seeing once, and their comedic timing as a duo has never been better. Abrams is a perfect mix of annoying and endearing, and Ryan and McDormand both know how to make every moment of screen time count. Poorna Jagannathan (Never Have I Ever) is a scene stealer as June, an underground doctor whom both fixers have visited on multiple occasions, and it makes for an interesting character relationship.

Much like its title characters, Wolfs struggles to keep up at times, and there are moments when you’ll have to decide now if everything is under control or if it’s flailing. In particular, educated cinephiles may feel torn on whether the ending is a clever homage to a classic or a cheap imitation (I still haven’t made up my mind), but it’s enjoyable enough getting there to make it easily worth your time, and it’s a pleasant throwback to the days when we went to the movies to see the stars shine. If Clooney and Pitt together don’t warrant a theatrical release, I’m not sure what does, but now is a perfect time to get a one-month Apple TV+ subscription—if you only watch Wolfs and CODA, it will still be one of the best uses of your entertainment dollars all year. –Patrick Gibbs 

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