Wolfs

Directed by Jon Watts, Wolfs follows rival fixers (George Clooney and Brad Pitt) as they’re both recruited to clean up the same job. It’s a slight premise that’s employed to perpetually watchable (albeit completely forgettable) effect by Watts, as the filmmaker, armed with his own screenplay, delivers an erratically-paced endeavor that benefits from the compelling, charismatic efforts of its two stars – with Clooney and Pitt’s commanding (yet admittedly familiar) work going a long way towards slowly-but-surely capturing the viewer’s interest and attention. (Austin Abrams, cast as a dopey but likeable party kid, offers up a scene-stealing turn that admittedly does remain an ongoing highlight within the proceedings.) And while the whole thing never really adds up to much, Wolfs, which is buoyed by a smattering of unexpectedly gripping sequences (eg Abrams’ character explains his plight, the protagonists are chased and shot at by goons, etc), generally comes off as an amiable-enough thriller that would hardly be worth mentioning were it not for the endlessly engaging presence of both Clooney and Pitt.

*** out of ****