'Wolfs' offers great Pitt/Clooney fix for viewers

There is not a single movie in theaters right now of interest to me. At least, not any that I haven't seen already. So, I am relegated to streaming movies at home where, frankly, the options don't seem much better.Until I realized that the new George Clooney and Brad Pitt film is now streaming on Apple TV+.In a massive, dark hotel room in a high rise in New York City a woman (Amy Ryan) is cursing and screaming. As the camera zooms into the suite her predicament becomes apparent. A young man (Austin Abrams) wearing only underwear and white tube socks is laying face down on the floor of the bedroom. Still as a corpse with blood all over him.The woman, Margaret, doesn't know what to do. All she knows is that she can't be connected to a dead, nearly naked young man in a hotel bedroom.Then Margaret remembers that someone she trusts implicitly once gave her a number to call if she ever found herself in such a predicament. She dials the number, and he answers. He is given no name, so we'll call him Fixer No. 1 (George Clooney).He arrives in the suite and begins cleaning up the mess that Margaret made when there's a knock at the door. Fixer No. 2 (Brad Pitt) enters. Someone called him and asked him to take care of this same mess. The three of them must determine how best to proceed and get out of their predicament.Fixer No. 1 and Fixer No. 2 don't want to work together. They each consider themselves a lone wolf. Their work, and the secrecy that goes along with it, is effective only if they work alone. You know what Benjamin Franklin once said, "Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead."Reluctantly, everyone concludes that they have to work together if the job is to be completed properly. This decision sends Fixer No. 1 and Fixer No. 2 on an adventure throughout New York City.Let's deal with the elephant in the room first. George Clooney and Brad Pitt are super megastars. Love them or hate them, you can't deny that there are no bigger movie stars alive today. So, it is very strange to find them headlining a movie released only on Apple TV+ (except in select theaters in select cities that do not include the Tri-Cities). This movie would have looked better on the big screen and would likely have made a fortune.That being said, this is the kind of film that provides fodder for both Clooney and Pitt to shine, to some degree. The script and the general tenor of the movie allow each of them the opportunity to use their charisma to its fullest. They mostly sit around acting cool and throwing witty banter at each other.Not only that, but no two actors alive today work as well together as they do. The actors are friends off screen, and it shows. They each feed off the other's performance, each elevating the other's game. If you have seen them in "Ocean's Eleven," then you know what I mean. They were having a blast making this film.The story, at first, seems pretty straightforward. The beginning of the film is very intriguing and more than a little dark. Clooney looks more menacing than normal and the whole vibe is dangerous. Then Pitt arrives on the scene and the tenor of movie changes. Not necessarily in a bad way, but when the two fixers are brought together the plot begins to twist and it's not clear why these twists are happening.The problem with the story is twofold. Initially, the events that take place are bizarre and remain unexplained until the very end of the movie. Even then, the events are not explained clearly. The other problem is that the movie needed more of these events. It's a movie about two fixers who don't actually fix anything. Just when you think something interesting is happening, the movie ends.But that doesn't make it a bad movie; it's just not as good as you expect from these two stars. "Wolfs" is also a mildly funny unlikely buddy movie. It's interesting enough that if you have Apple TV+ already, it's a no-brainer to watch this film. If you don't, it might be worth $9.99 for one month to watching anything you want on this streamer, especially their excellent original TV series.Grade: B+Rated R for language throughout and some violent content.•••Bradley Griffith is a local attorney and longtime film buff.