Wolfs (2024)

Along with Netflix's Carry-On, Apple TV's Wolfs was a breakout hit last Christmas, to the limited extent the term can be applied to streaming movies. Getting a lot of views doesn't necessarily translate to a significant number of new or retained subscriptions: we know these were seen by a lot people, but it's an open question whether that means anything.

This one had a great deal of potential, between reuniting Brad Pitt and George Clooney and coming from writer/director Jon Watts, who overdelivered on both his live-action Spider-Man trilogy and Star Wars Skeleton Crew. He's not necessarily the most exciting name in the industry, but he's been on a strong enough run recently that the prospect of him making a slick, funny holiday comedy/noir in the vein of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was intriguing. But while the movie isn't at all awful, Watts doesn't recreate enough of Shane Black’s proficiency in the genre to make this memorable or special.

It's a little unfortunate, as the premise has merit. The movie opens with a district attorney in a hotel room with a young man who appears to have died of a drug overdose. Panicking, she calls for a professional cleaner (George Clooney), who shows up to make the problem go away. Only the hotel owner, who secretly and illegally recorded the incident, has called in a cleaner of her own (Brad Pitt), with the joke being both are supposedly the only one who can do the things they do - two lone wolves forced to work together.

Usually these movies focus on how the leads are different in terms of what each brings to the table. Here, the humor is mostly playing on the idea they're pretty much interchangeable, aside from slightly different personality quirks. This is a story about two old men living lonely lives finding comradery.

Since you can't do a lone wolf (or even lone wolves) story without a cub, the movie reveals the corpse (played by Austin Abrams) is less dead than he first appeared. Complicating matters is a stack of drugs he's supposed to deliver. For reasons that don't entirely make sense, completing the drug drop is deemed an essential component for the job, so they take the kid with them.

Since these movies are supposed to have some dramatic tension, we're told killing that kid is part of the job as well, since there's supposed to be nothing left tying anything back to the hotel or DA. But that always felt like a stretch, so it's not remotely surprising when the professionals let the kid go at the end (or near the end, as there's a few more awkward twists to go).

What almost makes this work is Watts’s commitment to the central bit - that the leads are basically two versions of the same guy, neither is willing to admit or explore that dynamic until the closing minutes of the film, and that finding empathy for each other essentially means learning to find peace with themselves. What's missing is a lack of style - this needed to weave a sense of effortless whimsy in with the noir to work, but it doesn't quite hit the right note. You can see Watts trying to sell the absurdity and fun - he knows the assignment but can't quite pull it off.

Like the Shane Black movies it's emulating, this is set at Christmas, though the script doesn't reference the holiday. There's actually a pretty long tradition of this, with movies like Three Days of the Condor and First Blood using the season as set dressing without mentioning it in dialogue. What sets Wolfs apart in this regard is that it's both written and directed by the same person, raising the question of why Watts didn't just add the holidays to his own script. It's not really an issue with the film's quality, but it’s an odd choice.

In addition, the movie's setting could be seen as a reference to the leads’ ages: both are old men, and there's a long history of media playing with the connection between an old man and an old year (The Lion in Winter being the most iconic example). Alternatively, you could focus on the more superficial associations between peace and goodwill with the leads’ gradual affection for each other. In a sense, this is a classic Christmas romcom, only told between two old, gruff men.

Again, I like the premise, and at times I enjoyed the movie. This isn't the kind of thing I'd expect anyone to hate (indifference is a far more understandable reaction). Pitt and Clooney are of course good at this stuff, and that shines through at times. But even with two of Hollywood’s coolest living stars, this falls short of being as cool as it needs to be.