Wolfs (2024)
Directed by Jon Watts
Is there still a fascination with movie stars? Can big names on billboards still draw crowds and boost box office sales? Not always. Even the star system feels the crisis. What was once a guarantee of success is now a gamble. Wolfs, streaming on Apple TV+ starting September 27, takes on the challenge.
The stars are Brad Pitt and George Clooney, together again after the Ocean’s Eleven franchise directed by Steven Soderbergh and the Coen brothers’ Burn After Reading, not to mention a few smaller collaborations (If and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind). Every director has a formula for handling his actors, for pampering his protagonists. Jon Watts, out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, feeds the myth of an ageless odd couple. He crafts a light-hearted atmosphere, suspended between irony and crime.
The title is a nod to Tarantino, to Pulp Fiction, when Harvey Keitel uttered the iconic line: “I’m Mr. Wolf, I solve problems.” It’s no coincidence that Clooney and Pitt play two men capable of handling any situation. They erase evidence, make bodies disappear, and have an enviable aim with any weapon. They are used to working alone, but they’ll have to learn to team up. Will they manage to set aside their rivalry in just a few hours? We’ll see.
Jon Watts draws inspiration from John Landis’ Into the Night, reinterpreting it with Hollywood’s modern rules. The result is a fast-paced, explosive, and sometimes unpredictable pastime that knows how to navigate the intricacies of contemporary entertainment. Watts, who is accustomed to making high-budget films, comes from the adventures of Spider-Man. In Wolfs, with renewed enthusiasm, he plays with genres, blending comedy, noir, action, and thriller.
Wolfs has many nuances, perhaps too many. But cinema, even at the Lido, must know how to evoke its own lightness, to make eyes sparkle with that touch of nostalgia-induced magic. And this is where Watts excels: intelligently harnessing the talent of two icons, friends in real life, who never fail to ignite passions.
Cinema needs its mythology; it remains alive thanks to legends, to those who project themselves from the past into an increasingly turbulent present, at a time when the film industry is inexorably changing. Wolfs, not to be judged by appearances, seeks to find harmony between ancient styles and postmodern canons. Without taking itself too seriously, it has fun watching two stars face off in front of the camera. A breath of fresh air in a Venice Film Festival edition where there seems to be no escape from the scorching heat.
Gian Luca Pisacane
Cinematografo, September 1, 2024
