Tag Archives: george-clooney

Wolfs

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When actor David Hyde Pierce got the first script for the TV comedy Frasier, he thought it was terrible because they had written the same character twice. Frasier and Niles were basically the same character and he thought it would be a failure. Of course, Frasier turned out to be a hugely successful show.

The new Apple TV + movie, Wolfs, starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, debuted this weekend on the streaming service and Clooney and Pitt play extremely similar characters, much like Frasier and Niles.

An accidental death in the hotel room of the DA leads to her calling for help. George Clooney showed up as a fixer (think Mr. Wolf from Pulp Fiction) to take care of everything. However, Pitt showed up too, with the plan of also taking care of everything. When they are forced to work together against their better judgment, they discover that this case has much more to it than they initially thought.

After seeing trailers for this movie, it was one of my more anticipated films of the remainder of the year. Now since seeing it, Wolfs is okay. It has its strengths, but it also has some glaring weaknesses as well.

The biggest strength of the film is easily the chemistry between Clooney and Pitt, whose characters are never named during the film. They have such wonderful comic timing during their interactions and their moments on screen stand out so well. They are basically playing the same character but the auras of both men create something different, unexpected. There is a third actor, Austin Abrams, who plays the kid who adds to the ambiance of the movie.

The biggest weakness of the movie, unfortunately, is the story. It is very messy and convoluted, and not in the good way. Everything that is happening around these two fixers lacks any real context to it and the story is chocked full of fixer cliches that we have seen in other films. The story has too many branches and the final explanation, which is done through exposition, of what was going on just does not work, and makes the film feel somewhat anticlimactic.

The film moves quickly and does have plenty of entertaining moments, especially between Clooney and Pitt. I wish there was a movie where these characters were together but it had a better script. Overall, I did like what was good about the movie more than what was bad bothered me.

3.2 stars

The Boys in the Boat (2023)

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June 6, 2024

Today’s June Swoon 3 movie was one that I actually had tickets for this past year, but I left the theater after seeing another movie first because I was not feeling well. After being unable to see this (Along with Ferrari too), I decided that I would wait for the June Swoon to watch this movie directed by George Clooney.

The Boys in the Boat is the true story of the Washington Huskies rowing team’s unlikely ascension to the 1936 Olympics with a junior team that lacked experience. Led by their coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), the group of eight young men exceeded all expectations in quest for an Olympic medal.

I enjoyed the actual rowing competitions filmed during this movie as they brought some real dramatics to a sport that might not have as much as some others. The races were well filmed and created suspense in scenes that were fairly predictable.

The film lacked a lot of characterization for the cast, focusing on Coach Ulbrickson and Joe Turner (Callum Turner), one of the crew. The rest of the crew of the row team were fairly simplistic, one-note characters, with a few minor traits tossed their way. Ironic how a sport that is so much about the team does not spend much time with the parts of that team.

The story itself was basic, taking most of the sport movie cliches into play. This was a basic, by-the-numbers sports flick that did not stray from the pattern much.

Having said that, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t inspired by the finale of the film, especially the final Olympic race. There was one final conflict that was tossed in at the end that felt rushed and did not pay off in the end.

If you come into The Boys in the Boat with the idea that this is a basic formulaic sports movie and that it does not go above that, there are things to enjoy here. I think this story could have been more than what was here, but there is something to say for formula.