For better or worse, 2024 has had quite a few crime comedies. On the positive side, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.Eddie Murphy appears again in this one, which is very entertaining. Drive Away Dolls, A proudly raunchy Coen brothers comedy told from a queer perspective; and Scapegoat, The action-packed comedy was praised by critics and starred Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, but failed to do well at the box office. To make matters worse, it kicked off the year with one of the biggest flops of all time. Argyle. And this summer, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck shared a weak, double-handed handshake. The instigators, Video game-inspired flops Border area.
So, Wolf, Reunion Ocean’s 11Do George Clooney and Brad Pitt fall on this spectrum? Thankfully, they’re on the winning side! Teaming up with sarcasm, cynicism and gunplay, this old-school star brings a fresh spark to time-honored genre mashups — and they do it by going back to basics.
Wolf It has an old Hollywood feel.
Written and directed by Jon Watts. Spider-Man: HomecomingFar From Home, and There’s no way home, Wolf The story begins with a classic setup: when the rich and powerful need a problem (or a corpse) solved, they call in a “fixer.” However, this time, two independent contractors have been called in for the same job. These lone wolves, or “wolves,” do not have Together — they must overcome trust issues to team up, get the job done, and survive the night.
It’s a concept you could easily imagine Alfred Hitchcock or Billy Wilder pitching to stars like Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, two stars who could match each other’s on-screen presence, their energy charged, clashing with intensity and comedy. Watts’ jokes are based on old-fashioned masculinity with an edge of modern self-awareness, making every line a sarcastic or a challenge. And his actors know how to provoke.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt are great together again.
Far away from my mischievous friends Ocean’s 11 To 13 thirteenThe fixers here are not friends; Clooney is always ready to snarl, while Pitt plays a cocky bastard whose sharpest weapon is a smirk. Their characters have a lot in common, from their all-black, rubber-glove wardrobe to their code of ethics and lone-wolf vibes, so they’re more like mirror images than odd couples. This doppelganger setup threatens to become hackneyed, as the two initially mirror each other, much to the frustration of their clients (and us!). But Clooney and Pitt make good on the opportunity to highlight their lone wolves, with Clooney certainly more patient than the slightly younger and more impulsive Pitt.
Mashable Top Stories
In the film, these men irritate each other precisely because they have so much in common: they see in each other a vivid reflection of their own aging and diminished sense of self-worth in a perfectionist industry, their own failures. On a meta level, one might imagine the film as a commentary on the rivalry between Hollywood leading men vying for the same role, and the men’s frustration with the familiar faces they rival. But Watts maintains the subtext without jumping explicitly into showbiz, as American director Shane Black has done with such refreshing crime comedies set in Los Angeles as Star Wars: Episode I: The Last Jedi. nice guy and Kiss kiss bang bangWatts eschews the provocative spectacle of Black’s work, where naked flesh and flamboyant curse words mingle with intense on-screen violence, but he does have a clear vision.
Wolf Choose punchlines over provocative ones.
The task these fixers must face is to clean up the bloody, nearly naked corpse lying on the floor of a luxury Manhattan penthouse and let the bloody, tough-on-crime district attorney get away with nothing to worry about thanks to his alibi.The first clever twist in the convention is a gender swap. Another A powerful man fleeing from the body of a scantily clad young woman. Watts instead plays Amy Ryan (There’s been a lot of murders in the building.) as District Attorney Margaret, and the awkward Austin Abrams (Take revenge) is depicted as a “not a whore” (as Margaret defines it) lying down in boxy white briefs.
The scene of Kidd (credited) lying bleeding in his pure white underwear seems more like a scene from a college comedy than a crime movie. Watts applies his angles and energy to some of the funniest, most outrageous moments, from a clever yet comical body disposal to a Looney Tunes-esque chase scene that circles downtown Manhattan with madness, to a dance sequence that’s both shockingly silly and sublimely silly at the same time. In the rough streets of New York, home to gangsters and a shadowy elite rich in secrets and resources, these fixers are running wild while trying to keep their cool, and that contradiction is wildly entertaining in itself.
Freed from the MCU’s PG-13 constraints and lore requirements, Watts’ R-rated comedy wades into sex, drugs, and non-cartoon-style violence. But the vibrancy and wonder he brought to his Spider-Man movies is still felt here, resonating from the angst of the central rivalry and from nearly every supporting character who pops up along the way. Kudos to the ensemble, even if they only appear in one sequence, flit around like cocaine-addled cartoon characters, or are only heard as threatening voices on phone calls. WolfThey’re all glorious, lending texture to Watts’s dreary yet glittering Gotham, where anything can and does happen.
Overall, Wolf is a very enjoyable comedy that evokes the daringly funny film. Nice Guy, Logan Lucky, Midnight Run, and I like it hot. Watts’ sharp script entrusts Clooney and Pitt to play up their worth at the highest level, conveying their characters through dignity that gives face rather than backstabbing. The supporting cast ground their heists in something bigger, making the fixers seem like the calmest guys in a room where no one can really stay calm. This group mentality imbues every frame with a highly natural energy. Wolf It feels like you’re watching live theater. Wolf It’s interesting because it has an almost vintage feel, but still timeless.
Wolf The film, which did not screen at the Venice Film Festival, will be released in select theaters on September 20 and premiere on Apple TV+ on September 27.
