Lobos

So after John Watts wrapped up his Spider-Man trilogy with Tom Holland, this is his first big picture.

I give it a C+.

If you enjoy Clooney and Pitt and their easy on screen chemistry, you'll enjoy this.

I can count on two hands how many of Pitt's and Clooney's films (total for both) that are good to great. In many of their films they are serviceable, playing versions of themselves. It's the "I'm cool" snappy patter, and suave, debonair style that infused the Oceans films (but definitely not 8). That's this movie.

It's also a loosely structured remake of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, right down to the last scene.

The set pieces (chases, gun battles) go on too long.

Too much of a good thing it's definitely too much here.

There are also many plot devices you have to swallow to allow the story to move forward. Not good.

The comedy shtick of two fixers/mechanics/cleaners who are not only carbon copies of each other, but also working for the same guy, gets a little thin. So does the odd sentimentality with the nerdy bagman that the two killers get caught up with. It started to remind me of The Fall Guy. Good actors in a just "okay" film. But that's fine, I guess.

However, the bromance and easy coexistence these two actors have isn't hard to watch, but I wish there had been more revelatory scenes as to their background and training.

But...I'm not sorry I watched it.

Margaret (Amy Ryan) is the city DA with a problem. She brought a non-prostitute (Austin Abrams) back to her hotel room and he apparently died. She calls a special number for a fixer (George Clooney). It turns out that the hotel manager had also called in her cleaner (Brad Pitt).

This is some fun with a crime thriller. The meat and potatoes of this is watching Clooney and Pitt playing off of each other. While it's fun, they've done this before and this is old hat for the guys. I would have liked to keep Amy Ryan around, but they do replace her with an Austin Abrams. There is a really fun chase in the middle. For most of the movie, I am trying to figure out the situation like Clooney. In the end, my problem is that I don't understand the whole scheme. The boys seem to yadayada the thing whether we understand it or not. I am not convinced by it. This is nevertheless some good light fun, but it won't be remembered as anything in the future.

Given the cast and the concept I expected more... it is an okay film there is nothing wrong with it. At times the interaction between the two Wolfs is interesting and engaging. It has a good character arc and development. The pacing feels a little off, the action sequences are too fast and the plot moments are too slow. I think there should have been more "Tarantino" style moments between the Pitt and Clooney but overall it's fine.

It's a bit of a cliche now but I believe this would have worked much better as a limited series. The characters feel superficial and it lacks any real tension or suspense.

It's worth a watch on the basis that it's an original idea but don't expect too much.

Make no mistake, without one or both stars the movie most likely, would have been an endurance test. But they're stars for a reason and there never ending banter made us laugh or chuckle quite a bit. Engaging movie that never pretends to be more than it is. We weren't bored for one second watching the two guys give surprising and disapproving looks at one another throughout the movie. Ryan albeit the small role she has is also fun to watch. The kid while being a good actor is a stretch as any woman immediately wanting to bed such a scrawny looking guy, even a middle aged one. Don't look for a movie with some depth; just one that is fun and has engaging stars that are increasingly hard to find.

The movie itself is decent enough.

George and Brad make it very watchable. If these two heavyweights were not in it and it was two average actors it would be nothing special.

But Clooney and Pitt are quality and their comedic skills are not to be underestimated. Well done to both of them. I first saw them together in Burn Without Reading. Also a good film. They work very well together and their chemistry is great. I look forward to seeing them working together again hopefully.

I would recommend seeing the film. It's definitely worth watching. Especially for the performances of the two excellent leading actors.