Wolfs

By Joanna Langfield

If you lower your expectations, you’ll find this one gets the job done. But with two such terrific stars, why shouldn’t we want more?

George Clooney and Brad Pitt carry us along in a glossy, not particularly exciting action comedy. They are professional fixers, brought in when a political bigwig winds up with a dead young man in her hotel suite. These two work alone, or so they have done, but now are compelled to join forces, as the situation gets even more messy than they had assumed.

Writer/director Jon Watts connects most of the dots, although I still don’t get how a very bloodied body bounces back, seemingly unscathed. But those dots feel too familiar, keeping the so-called thrills at a minimum. So, the emphasis leans on the comedy. What’s on the page isn’t anything new, either. But leave it to the two veterans to not just find the funny, but also bring us in on it. Clooney allows just enough vulnerability into his suave swagger. And Pitt, who seems to glide through his work here, is never not engaging.

Austin Abrams gets to play along as the third wheel in this triangular mismatch. And it’s nice to see Amy Ryan, however briefly. But what is also a teeny treat is the blink-and-you’ll-miss-him appearance for Richard Kind, who, with appearances also in Only Murders in the Building and on John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA, seems to be having a very busy moment.