Margaret’s Man & Pam’s Man (Wolfs)

Created by Jon Watts

“What’s the play here?”
—Margaret’s Man (Clooney)

Two rival New York City fixers, who both prefer to work solo (hence the lone “Wolfs” of the title), are hired to do the same job in the 2024 “theatrical” release Wolfs, a goofy action thriller.

The job? Clean up the mess left behind after Margaret, a powerful NYC DA with political aspirations, has a Christmas time fling in a swanky hotel room with a young stud (he’s not a prostitute!) that goes terribly, tragically awry. Seems somebody died, and a corpse has to be disposed of.

Suffice it to say the two Wolfs don’t get along.

It certainly helps, though, that the two nameless rivals are played by George Clooney and Brad Pitt, and that the film had plenty of that good ol’ Apple TV+ $$$ behind it.

So there’s lots of impressive if cartoonish action, some really nice clothing, and a lot of charming, witty banter between Clooney, hired by Margaret, and Pitt (hired by Pam Dowd-Henry, representing the hotel). Which also explains why their characters are listed as MARGARET’S MAN and PAM’S MAN in the credits.

There’s also a scared shitless doofus known only as the “Kid,” a pile of drugs, a gang of trigger happy Albanians and “the most pointlessly convoluted conspiracy plot this side of Dan Brown” (according to keithlovesmovies.com), as the Wolfs tear through the wintry streets of the Big Apple. Guns go off, things blow up, snow falls and the patter goes on. And on.

Not essential, but fun. Pass the popcorn.

A SEQUEL?

A month prior to its September 1, 2024 release at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, Apple announced plans for a sequel, with Watts, Clooney, and Pitt returning. “I absolutely did not write the movie with a sequel in mind,” said director/writer Jon Watts, “But it was very fun to make, so I don’t know, I think you let the audience decide if they want to see more.”

CURIOUSER

• The film was supposedly inspired by real life Hollywood fixer Paul Barresi.

UNDER OATH

• “Wolfs is smooth, good-humored and pleasantly undemanding. Tearing open a pack of saltines would require more concentration.”
  — People Magazine

FILM/TELEVISION

• WOLFS
  (2024, AppleTV+)
  Theatrical premiere: September 20, 2024
  Television premiere: September 27, 2024
  Written and directed by Jon Watts
  Starring George Clooney as MARGARET’S MAN
  and Brad Pitt as PAM’S MAN
  Also starring Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams,Poorna Jagannathan, Zlatko Burić, Richard Kind, Frances McDormand
  Played for only a week in theaters before its debut on AppleTV+, is this really a theatrical film, or a high-budget made-for-television movie?

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.