Wolfs, on Apple TV+

Think of them like Winston Wolf in Pulp Fiction. Of course, these two fixer-cleaners are not as cool as he was, even though they both think they are. Naturally, that means they prefer to work alone, but, like it or not, they must team-up in director-screenwriter Jon Watts’ Wolfs, which starts streaming tomorrow on Apple TV+.

Margaret is a very un-New York-like tough-on-crime DA, who picked a kid in the hotel bar she frequents—so, maybe she is not completely unlike some New York politicians. Rather awkwardly, the “Kid” got high and back-flipped into a plate glass table killing himself. In a panic, she dials the number of a fixer she was given for extreme emergencies. Soon, “Margaret’s Guy” arrives to take charge of the situation.

He inspires confidence, until “Pam’s Guy” crashes the party. The unseen Pam is the owner of the swanky hotel, who is keen to avoid scandal. Apparently, she saw it all on the secret cameras illegally installed in Margaret’s room. Obviously, Margaret worries that Pam’s Guy does not necessarily have her best interests at heart. Pam might even want leverage over the prosecutor, so the women cut a deal, agreeing their guys must work together to make the problem go away.

Predictably, they have their differences, but the job seems relatively straight, until Pam’s Guy discovers several blocks of extremely pure narcotics in the Kid’s bag—enough for a drug ring to come looking for if they simply destroyed it. Then things really get complicated when the Kid miraculously revives.

Wolfs is an amusingly cynical throwback to the dark gangster capers that Harvey Keitel specialized in during the 1990s, both in terms of theme and title. It is dialogue-driven, but there is still plenty of violence. After making bank with Spiderman, Watts returns to the scale of Cop Car, doubling down on the noir ambiance. Frankly, this is what the unsuccessful Brad Pitt fixer-heist movie Killing Them Softly should have been like.

Obviously, Watts also had the advantage of Pitt and George Clooney honing their bantering rhythm over the course of what feel like several hundred Ocean’s movies. They both have fatalistic sarcasm down cold—and it still works. Watts’ dialogue is sharp to begin with and they punch it up with their snarky deliveries.

Austin Abrams is an absolute mess as the Kid, to such an extent many viewers would probably prefer the Guys solved their Kid problem the easy way. However, Poorna Jagannathan portrays their off-the-books doctor with such attitude and vitality, she is never overshadowed by Pitt and Clooney—if anything, it is the opposite.

Wolfs is limited in scope, but it is entertaining to watch Pitt and Clooney swagger through New York’s seedier after-hours haunts. It follows a formula, but it is a winning one. Recommended for fans of the stars and the kind of hardboiled noir antiheroes they portray, Wolfs premieres on Apple TV+ this Friday (9/27).