'Wolfs' review: George Clooney and Brad Pitt face off, and lucky us

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2024 has had more than its fair share of crime-comedies, for better or worse. For better, there was the on-point Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which saw Eddie Murphy back in action and riotously funny; Drive-Away Dolls, a proudly trashy Coen Bro comedy with a queer perspective; and The Fall Guy, an action-packed comedy that bombed at the box office despite critics' praise and A-listers Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt headlining. For worse, well, the year began with the abysmal misfire that was Argylle. Then this summer offered the limp handshake that was the Matt Damon/Casey Affleck double-hander The Instigators, as well as the video-game inspired flop Borderlands.

So where might Wolfs, which reteams Ocean's Eleven's George Clooney and Brad Pitt, fall on this spectrum? Thankfully, into the successes camp! Teamed up to snark, sneer, and shoot it out, these old-school stars bring fresh gloss to a genre mash-up that's been through it. And they do it by going back to the basics.

Wolfs has an old-school Hollywood feel.

Written and directed by Jon Watts, the helmer of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home, Wolfs begins with a classic setup. When the rich and powerful need a problem (or a body) whisked away, they call on a "fixer." Except this time, two independent contractors were called in for the same job. These lone wolves — or "wolfs" because they are not together — must overcome their trust issues to team up, finish the job, and survive the night.

It's a concept that's easy to imagine Alfred Hitchcock or Billy Wilder pitching to the likes of Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart — two stars who can stand up to each other's on-screen presence, their energies charged and clashing with intensity and comedy. Watts' banter, based in a husky vintage machismo with an edge of modern self-awareness, makes every line a dig or a dare. And his players know how to throw down.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt are once more marvelous together.

Far from the mischievous cohorts of Ocean's Eleven to Thirteen, the fixers here are not friends. Clooney has a rumbling snarl at the ready, while Pitt plays the smug bastard, a smirk his most cutting tool. As their characters have a lot in common, from the way they dress in all black and rubber gloves to their code of ethics and loner vibes, they are less odd couple and more mirror images. This doppleganger setup risks getting stale as the two initially echo each other — much to their clients' frustration (and ours!). But Clooney and Pitt work in opportunities to set their loners apart, like how the former certainly has more patience than his slightly younger and more impulsive counterpart.

Within the film, these men annoy each other precisely because they have so much in common. They are for each other a crisp reflection of their own failings, their aging and degrading relevance in an industry obsessed with perfection. On a meta level, one might imagine the film serves as a commentary between the rivalries of Hollywood leading men, up for the same roles and frustrated by the familiar faces that are their competition. But Watts keeps that subtext, not plunging into overtly into showbiz like Shane Black, the American filmmaker behind such invigorating crime-comedies as the L.A.-set The Nice Guys and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Watts also won't veer into the provocative spectacle of Black's work, where bared flesh and florid curses mingle with intense on-screen violence. Still, he has a clear vision.

Wolfs opts for the punchline over the provocative.

The job these fixers must face is to clean up the bleeding, mostly naked corpse lying on the floor of a posh Manhattan penthouse, and getting the tough-on-crime district attorney, who's covered in blood, away with an alibi and nothing to worry about. The first clever turn on convention is a gender-swap. It's not another powerful man fleeing from the body of a scantily clad young woman. Instead, Watts cast Amy Ryan (Only Murders in the Building) as Margaret the D.A., and a gawky Austin Abrams (Do Revenge) as the "not a prostitute" (as Margaret defines him) sprawled out in boxy tighty-whities.

The image of the Kid (as he's credited) lying there, bleeding in bright white undies looks more like an outtake from a college dude comedy than a crime movie. And Watts works that angle and energy to entertainingly outrageous places. This ranges from a clever yet comedic body disposal bit to a chase scene that loops all around downtown Manhattan with Looney Tunes-style zaniness, to a dance sequence that is as surprising as it is sublimely silly. Within the mean streets of New York gangsters and a shadowy elite rich in secrets and resources, these fixers race about wildly while trying to maintain their cool. And the very paradox of that is terrifically fun.

Freed of the PG-13 restraints and lore requirements of the MCU, Watts' R-rated comedy delves into sex, drugs, and non-comic-book-style violence. But the verve and wonder he brought to the Spider-Man movies is felt here too, thrumming from the anxiety in the central rivalry, but also in just about every supporting player who pops up along the way. Props to the ensemble. Whether they're in a single sequence, zip around like a cartoon characters on cocaine, or can only be heard as a threatening voice on the phone in Wolfs, all of them dazzle, bringing texture to Watt's grim yet glittering Gotham, where anything can happen — and absolutely does!

All in all, Wolfs is a rousingly fun comedy that harkens back to such boldly funny films as The Nice Guys, Logan Lucky, Midnight Run, and Some Like It Hot. Watt's sharp script entrusts Clooney and Pitt to swagger for all their worth, conveying character through gravitas giving face, not spewing backstory. The supporting cast grounds their mugging by going bigger, so these fixers still seem like the chillest dudes in a room where no one can really be chill. This collective spirit infuses every frame with an energy so spontaneous that Wolfs almost feels like watching live theater. In the end, Wolfs is a hoot in a way that feels almost vintage, but let's go with timeless.

Wolfs was reviewed out of the Venice International Film Festival. The movie will open in select theaters Sept. 20, followed by a debut on Apple TV+ Sept. 27.