Wolfs is exploding cinematic tropes even as it honours them, right from its very title. As you would likely know, the plural of “wolf” is “wolves,” not “wolfs.” The incorrect pluralisation of that contextually singular noun is to show each of the movie’s two main characters – both nameless, played by George Clooney and Brad Pitt – that they are not special. Each one fancies himself a unique sort of “fixer,” the type we see pop up in movies to clean up a mess, usually involving a dead body. If you want to think of Harvey Keitel’s character in Pulp Fiction, that’s instructive. He’s even called The Wolf, and there the definite article was intentional. Clooney’s and Pitt’s characters each considers himself the only lone wolf with the particular set of skills to do this job – meaning apparently neither has seen Pulp Fiction.

Jon Watts’ film gleefully deconstructs their preconceived notions, as each is brought in by a separate powerful entity to make a problem disappear before it lands in the press or otherwise becomes a headache. The comedy, very low-key in nature, initially springs from being compelled to bounce ideas off another person, when they were previously their own bosses and had the success rate to validate that. Over time, the humour morphs into an uncanny similarity in their methods, taking the piss out of them even further.

Throughout, the movie is an enjoyable showcase for two genuine movie stars now on the wrong side of 60, who may be as much a dying breed in the popular marketplace as their characters are in the clean-up game – especially since this movie got only a one-week run in cinemas in the U.S. before debuting on AppleTV+. In Australia, there was no run in cinemas.

Both “cleaners” are called to one of the upper floors of a high-end New York hotel following a loud smashing of glass. Margaret (Amy Ryan), whom we will soon learn is a powerful district attorney, had been in the midst of a spontaneous tryst with a man she swears is not a prostitute. This man got to jumping on the bed and fell on a glass drink cart, obliterating it and bringing an unceremonious end to his life. Pulling her purse from under the corpse, Margaret hurriedly dials a number given to her by a trusted power broker in case of an emergency. Clooney answers, telling her he’ll be there shortly, and what to do and not to do in the meantime. Therefore, he becomes Margaret’s Man (this is how he’s credited).

After entering with a secret knock, Margaret’s Man is only a few minutes into the clean-up when there is another knock. Margaret doesn’t answer, but the knocker enters anyway. It’s Pitt, and he’s been sent by a woman representing the hotel, which has just recently had its high-profile opening. She’s Pam, voiced by an uncredited Frances McDormand. See, they caught these events on a hidden surveillance camera, and are now at an impasse how best to handle this while ensuring everyone’s interests are represented. Pitt, then, becomes Pam’s Man.

Told in no uncertain terms by Pam that they have to work together, the pair grapple for power without appearing to break a sweat, each considering himself the superior cleaner, while also trying to put the other in his place. The ego clashing becomes the least of their worries when they discover that the dead man was carrying four bricks of heroin in his backpack – and someone out there is surely looking for them.

The makers of Wolfs knew that the lion’s share of its appeal would be reuniting the stars of Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen, and they weren’t wrong. Clooney and Pitt continue to command the screen as they have their entire careers, and their chemistry is such that they can get a huge amount of mileage just from a glance, a look of mild frustration, or a sneer. It’s not every day we see these sorts of old-fashioned movie stars – whose glitz and glamour recalls the stars of the original Ocean’s 11, the Rat Pack – strutting their stuff for the camera just to lap up. That will be reason alone for Wolfs to appeal to certain audience demographics.

Plotting, unfortunately, may not be an equivalent strength. Though the elongated clean-up does go in some clever directions, nothing matches the narrative crispness of the initial set-up and the juicy premise that first places these two men in each other’s paths. In fact, some of it heavily strains credibility. That isn’t necessarily the most important element of a movie like this, but Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s movies did whet our appetites for something fairly stringent on a script level.

Formula is everything with the streamers, and it’s interesting to note that Wolfs shares common elements with a movie released on AppleTV+ earlier in this very year, starring two other stars of the Ocean’s movies. That was Doug Liman’s The Instigators, and it features Matt Damon and Casey Affleck in a similar sort of hangout movie. Of course, those guys are raw Bostonians while these men are debonair professionals of indeterminate origin, but the two movies share many of the same pleasures – while both feeling ultimately sort of insignificant.

Still, there are far worse ways to spend an hour and 45 minutes than watching Clooney and Pitt needle each other as they navigate a gauntlet of challenges. Though there are a number of funny bits and the movie generally avoids going dark, Wolfs is notably mournful compared to the Damon-Affleck movie. There’s a sense of Watts and company eulogising a lost era of moviemaking, as the very streaming availability of Wolfs stands in contrast to a time, quite recently, when the names of these matinee idols would have actually adorned a marquee. When we don’t have Clooney and Pitt to be our fixers anymore, who will we have?

 

Wolfs is currently steaming on AppleTV+.