George Clooney and Brad Pitt try their best to give the toothless ‘Wolfs’ some bite

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — These alpha dogs are in a beta movie.

, a prominent politician ( Amy Ryan ) finds herself in quite a conundrum when a young male suitor ( Austin Abrams ) she invited into her hotel room accidentally kills himself! To take care of the problem, she hires a fixer ( George Clooney ) to come and clean up the mess. However, complications soon arise when another fixer ( Brad Pitt ) shows up to the scene, sent by Pam ( Frances McDormand ), the mysterious manager of this luxurious hotel. Pam forces the two fixers to work together on this job, despite them both operating better when alone. Things get even hairier when it turns out the male suitor, referred to as "Kid", is still alive and even worse, he's mixed up with some nasty customers involving illicit drugs. Not too bad for one night's work, eh?

My thoughtsis one of those movies that's the epitome of "star power." If you look at the title and the poster, it really doesn't tell you much. All it shows is Brad Pitt and George Clooney sitting at a diner booth, holding guns. This may get one thinking, "Wolves aren't very nice animals, so these must be some really bad hombres," but that's really all you have to go off. So, yes, that seems to Apple's one and only selling point with .

"Look! It's George Clooney and Brad Pitt, two of your faves back on screen together! You love , right?!" Well, who doesn't? is awesome, but just because two actors from that film are back on screen together doesn't simply equal a recipe for success.

All bark, no bite Written and directed by Jon Watts , has an absolutely fantastic set-up — one that is ripe for comedy, drama, action, and suspense. Two different fixers are separately sent to clean up the same crime scene and need to work together? Talk about a golden premise. It's just a shame that this great idea was squandered on a movie that ends up being so lame.

What got me the most was the lack of underlying stakes to drive the story. Clooney and Pitt are just there to do a job and ensure the public perception of Ryan's politician character remains scandal-free. You think that her character would be more involved in the plot, possibly more involved than we initially thought, making the overall narrative a web of connecting strands.

After the first act, though, Ryan never appears again and overall, it feels like there's not much consequence to anything going on. That's because no other aspect is deeply developed either. Whether it's Ryan's political dealings or the getting mixed up with foreign criminals they have a history with, none of these elements tie together.

The script meanders from side character to side character, all who will show up for just one scene to help the characters before they just vanish for good, wasting great talent like Amy Ryan, Richard Kind , and Zlatko Buric . There's not even a real antagonist for the to go up against. One could argue that Pitt is the antagonist to Clooney's main character, but since they're working together, there's nothing opposing them to create any tension.

Therefore, it never feels like the are in any real danger. The only character who finds themselves in actual dire straits is the kid, as once he delivers the drugs, Clooney and Pitt still need to kill him. The kid doesn't know that, thinking he's just along for the ride. You're supposed to be in the same mindset as Clooney, thinking, "I need to kill this kid, but I don't want to because he found a way into my heart." I didn't really feel all that much, though.

Chasing tails That makes one of those movies that tries to do way too much but really ends up doing nothing at all. Clooney and Pitt try to make sense of their increasingly bizarre predicament, but the more information we get, the less it makes sense. It doesn't help that this is all done in lengthy exposition dumps, with the characters constantly shouting over each other or deliberately ignoring what the other is saying.

All this confusion shared between the characters and audience was played for laughs. It makes me think Watts was going for type of gag where the characters are just left wondering, "What does it all mean? Eh, I guess it doesn't matter." That doesn't really work here because, beyond the actors competently doing their jobs, it all feels so lifeless.

If Watts went in the direction with all of the potential plot twists he seemed to be setting up, it would be straight up one of the most predictable movies ever made. When it was all said and done, though, I would take heavily telegraphed plot points any day over pretty much nothing happening at all. The good stuff here is really good, and maybe with a writing partner to develop the story, Watts could have something with this idea and pair of actors.

Members of the pack Watts is one of the many cases of talented, up-and-coming filmmakers being plucked from the independent film aisle and thrust into the high-stakes, high-rolling world of Hollywood. After working on the past three Tom Holland films, he's finally back in the director's chair with an original production.

It must have been a treat for Watts to direct a non-Marvel film for the first time in nearly a decade. Gone are the days of already pre-visualized action scenes and shooting the actors on green screens with flat shot composition. Watts tries his best to keep his meandering script engaging with some nice camerawork and a cold, bleak New York atmosphere, but it's not really enough to compensate for his script.

The sad thing is, there are some genuinely hilarious bits throughout this movie. Clooney and Pitt are a blast to watch together, especially since their dynamic is more antagonistic here than usual. They play their usual charming selves, with Clooney being the more stoic type opposing Pitt's more carefree attitude.

It's that same feeling of it all not quite being enough, though. The pair are amusing to watch play off each other, but the dialogue and situations they find themselves in aren't all that clever. A lot of it is just them arguing before they need to suddenly move on to the next scene. Whatever dramatic or comedic punchline the scene is setting up, they all land with a thud.

Final verdict Thanks to Clooney and Pitt, I was mildly entertained while watching , but there was this overall feeling of emptiness inside of me. "This sequence should be more thrilling, or this bit should be much funnier," were thoughts that kept entering my mind. The movie just never really got there.

Watts said he wants to make a sequel to this, something he says he never planned, which I find hard to believe considering this movie hardly has a resolution. The way the ending is written makes it seem Watts is keen to give these characters more adventures. Let's just hope their next job is more worthy of their talents.

My rating: will be released in Arizona exclusively at Harkins Camelview 14 at Fashion Square on Friday, September 20th. It will be streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday, September 27th.