Wolfs

Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, Poorna Jagannathan, Richard Kind, Frances McDormand (voice)
Directed by: Jon Watts
Rating: R
Genre: Thriller
2024

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two rival fixers (George Clooney, Brad Pitt) are forced to work together on a job that soon proves to be much larger, more complicated, and nefarious than they realized.

Review:

Tim: Jon Watts continues his impressive run, writing and directing Apple+'s entertaining Wolfs. I had so much fun with this film. While there's more than a few forced moments and some drawbacks, you have to give this film respect for what it delivers. It reunites two great actors and puts them into hilarious and memorable situations. It's an incredibly fun film and one I'd happily rewatch. This is a big success.

First off, I'll always be interested in seeing George Clooney and Brad Pit work together. Their Ocean's films were so memorable, in part because of their on-screen chemistry. That is ratcheted up even higher here. Clooney and Pitt together is the main attraction here. Watts' film gives them ample opportunity to interact. They get a lot of screen time together and it's a pure delight to see. These two great actors get to play characters who start out disliking each other, and slowly grow to respect the other. This elicits a ton of great dialogue and two energized performances. It's hard to describe how fun it is to watch these two together. They make a great duo and I loved how much of this film is dedicated to their banter. Now, I admit, some of this is forced and some of the dialogue doesn't quite work. However, as a whole, it's the biggest strength of the film. It's amazing to me that putting a camera up and watching two icons like this go at each other can make a movie, but that's the case here. The film even gives them a diner scene, which is iconic in its own right. In short, the Clooney-Pitt pairing is all you need to know to make this film a must-see. The fact that they are so good together and leverage Watts' excellent dialogue really pushes this movie up.

The supporting cast is good, too. It was fun seeing Amy Ryan here, in a memorable role. Austin Abrams is a bit of a scene-stealer, which is impressive when he's mostly working opposite Clooney and Pitt. The way they play off his performance was fantastic. Poorna Jagannathan adds a nice performance as well, improving the film with a different energy than the other cast members. As a whole, the cast elevates the film significantly.

I found the plot of the film to be a strength, too. It almost feels unnecessary, because Clooney and Pitt together doing anything will be interesting. However, the story is very strong- two rival fixers being forced to work together. The movie plays up their age and past experience and it puts these two lone "wolfs" together in situations that cause them discomfort. It's immense fun to see two control-freak characters spend much of the movie teetering upon chaos. The story throws some nice twists and turns at the audience, keeping us guessing. We might have a sense of where the story is going, but there's enough uncertainty to keep us on the edge of our seats. The movie covers a ton of group in only 1 hour, 48 minutes. This is a movie that never overstays its welcome and leaves us desperately wanting more. It's the kind of film where you can easily, easily argue for a trilogy. We need to see these characters more.

This film definitely has some Ocean's vibes. It's a different film with a smaller cast, but it's incredibly cool. They don't make enough legitimately cool films and this one hits most of the right notes for that. It does at times feel forced, the dialogue doesn't always hit, and some of the jokes fall a bit flat. I wouldn't quite call this film "great", but it gets really close. I had a blast watching Wolfs and I was impressed with everyone involved. Watts is a really interesting director- he burst onto the scene with the surprisingly effective Cop Car, then did Tom Holland's Spider-Man trilogy, concluding with the amazing Spider-Man: No Way Home, then delivers Wolfs. He's someone we need to keep an eye out for, as all five of these films were especially good and memorable. This is absolutely one of his most effective films and I'm really hoping he writes a sequel.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Ocean's Eleven trilogy, Cop Car, Bullet Train