Review: Wolfs

7 December, 2024 William Eguizabal 0 Comments 2 categories

Title: Wolfs
MPA Rating: R
Director: Jon Watts
Starring: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Amy Ryan
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

What It Is: When politician Margaret (Ryan) finds herself in a bit of a “situation,” she calls a mysterious number. On the other end is her “cleaner” (Clooney), a man whose job is to ensure the mess gets handled discreetly. But when the building’s owner—who’s been watching the whole ordeal—brings in their own fixer (Pitt), the two competing mystery fixers find themselves both clashing and inadvertently stepping on each other’s toes.

Now, neither of them is quite sure how to handle the escalating chaos. The “situation” has spiraled completely out of control. Can they somehow rein it in and, well… fix it?

What We Think: Sure, it’s pretty enjoyable to see two actors of Pitt and Clooney’s caliber, but this should have been far more engaging than it is. Jon Watts, who usually brings so much of himself into his projects, offers very little here. Watts, like many directors who started in music videos, has a great eye for detail. However, his script feels like it’s striving for sharpness but ends up falling short—it’s missing something.

Once Austin Abrams’ character is properly introduced, he’s not given the necessary plot threads to develop. By the time the film finally provides any meaningful insight into his role, it’s near the end, and it’s too late to make his arc impactful.

Our Grade: C, It’s never boring—sure, it’s clumsy, but I can forgive clumsy. It’s clear that Watts wanted to create something cool, Soderbergh cool. Unfortunately, he’s not quite up to that challenge. What we get is a film that might give audiences nostalgia for a time when its two leads were Hollywood.

Instead, we’re left with two actors who have always depended on strong material to elevate their performances. Without a knockout script, they’re left out in the literal cold, standing there with nothing to do.