Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Plot: Two rival fixers cross paths when they’re both called in to help cover up a prominent New York official’s misstep. Over one explosive night, they’ll have to set aside their petty grievances and their egos to finish the job.
Review: De Niro and Pacino, Damon and Affleck, Stone and Gosling. Those are just a few acting duos who always seem to strike gold when they work together, delivering the kind of relationship chemistry that have viewing audiences excited to see their movie just because the duo is in it. The same goes for George Clooney and Brad Pitt whose off-screen bromance (which goes back as far as the 90s when both actors auditioned for roles in Thelma and Louise with the role being won by Pitt) turning Ocean’s 11 into box office gold.
Wolfs (deliberately misspelled to show how difficult having two “lone wolf” types working together would be) starts off pretty straightforward when district attorney Margaret (Amy Ryan) ends up in a bad situation and needs a fixer to clean up her mess. Enter Clooney (no character name given) with all the swagger of a man who knows his trade as he tells her step by step what to do. He also insists he’s the man for the job as there’s “no one else who can do what he does”. Of course, his statement is immediately disputed when Brad Pitt (also no character name given) walks in. Dressed almost identically to Clooney, Pitt is hired by the hotel’s owner Pam to also clean up the mess so as not to bring any heat on the posh establishment. The mess in this case being the body of young man who may or may not be dead. Throw in a ton of drugs, a couple European mobsters and a night where Murphy’s Law of “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” and these two wolves, sorry, wolfs, will be forced to work together if they are to survive.
Writer and director Jon Watts understands with actors like Pitt and Clooney taking the lead all you need to do is step back and let them do their thing and you’ll have yourself a winner. These two have such solid chemistry it almost doesn’t matter what the plot of the story is, and, in this case, that’s actually sort of the point. I honestly couldn’t tell you without sitting down and watching this again, exactly what was going on here. Is the district attorney dirty? Is someone trying to start a war between the Croatian and Albanian mobs? Why does the hotel need a fixer on its payroll? The answers are there but like the rest of the cast (with the exception of Austin Abrams who plays a character simply known as Kid) it isn’t really about all that. This is simply the tale of two men who have chosen a line of work that deliberately alienates them from everyone. Both think they’re unique but as the night wears on they find commonalities that might just have the makings of an unlikely friendship.
Simply put, it’s a character-driven story not a plot-driven one, a point that may disappoint folks going into this expecting to see Danny Ocean and Rusty back in action. Personally, I enjoyed it from beginning to end. That might be due to my being burnt out on every movie trying to instantly become a franchise, I’m not entirely sure. What I do know is that this is a pairing I don’t see myself ever tiring of. With enough swagger on screen to ensure your eyes never sway beyond them and the kind of banter that makes me long for the days when two powerhouse performers would just sit opposite and crack wise, Wolfs is a must see for fans of “buddy” movies and an easy A for those of us that miss seeing Clooney and Pitt trying to one up each other while exuding the kind of confidence that comes from knowing there’s nothing better than getting to do what you love with your best friend by your side.
Sommer’s Score: 8 out of 10
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Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More