Can Wolfs prove that George Clooney and Brad Pitt are still movie stars?

George Clooney and Brad Pitt are back on the big screen, this time in an AppleTV+ film called Wolves.

Wolves The Hollywood duo play a pair of “fixers” who must band together to solve the problem in front of them and face the challenges that lie ahead as their night spirals out of control.

Continue today excitementCritics Rachel Ho, Kathryn VanArendonk and Jackson Weaver join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss whether the film will become a standout part of Clooney and Pitt’s joint filmography.

We’ve included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, including the panel’s thoughts on Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis and how they remember Dame Maggie Smith, Listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favorite podcast player.

VIEW | Today’s episode on YouTube:

Elamin: Kathryn, in many ways (Wolves) is the anti-Megalopolis…. What do we need to know? Wolves?

Kathryn: So the premise of Wolves is that George Clooney and Brad Pitt play two fixer-cleaner types. You get into a bad situation, somehow there is a dead body, you have to call a man to clean everything up. But somehow two guys show up, one of them is George Clooney and one of them is Brad Pitt. And unfortunately – or fortunately, because we all know how this will play out – they have to work together to resolve this unpleasant situation. They will end up chasing a mostly naked man on the street. Will they end up yelling at someone, but everyone is actually working with that person? Will they get angry? Will Brad Pitt eat something? Yes.

It as an anti-Megalopolis is exactly right because it’s a film where you know what it’s going to be and then it somehow delivers exactly that, just a little less. Because part of your quest was for it to exceed those expectations, and then it just doesn’t.

Elamin: Rachel, on paper this film seems to have all the ingredients to be a huge success. They have two of the biggest stars there is. They have a pretty gigantic budget, a premise that sounds funny when you describe it to a friend. How do you feel about the execution of this film?

Rachel: Yes, those are the seven out of ten. It’s totally fine if you want to put it on on a lazy Saturday, you have nothing to do, but by Monday you completely forgot about it… So this is such an indifferent film. It’s entertaining sometimes. Clooney and Pitt are always as charming as we know them, but it’s very boring in its own way. I agree with Kathryn, it’s less than you expect.

But if you could counter that Megalopolis, Megalopolis You will remember. In this case, you’ll say, “Oh yeah, I forgot that these two did another movie together and that’s not the case.” ocean and that’s not it Burning after reading.”

Elamin: First of all, a hot take: This is what I want to experience in films, you know? I watch a movie and say, “I had a pleasant time,” and then two days later I don’t think about it anymore. Sometimes there are movies where I think, Oh, this is a moment, and this is high art, and they should deliver what they had to deliver. There are times when I just want to watch a movie and then leave without engaging in any discourse. In fact, this is just an experience that will last 90 minutes, two hours if I have to, and then I’m out.

Jackson, we should say that AppleTV+ is greenlighting a sequel Wolves before it even premiered, but then they scrapped plans for a wider release of the film since it only ran in theaters for a week and is now available on streaming. What do you think is the lesson here for film industry executives who say, “Get me George Clooney and Brad Pitt,” you know?

Jackson: I mean, we had this supposed slight from Quentin Tarantino towards George Clooney saying he wasn’t a movie star anymore because he couldn’t carry films. And George Clooney kind of shot across his bow and said that’s not true, I’m a big movie star. But he might be right here if he actually said that, because I don’t think that star recognition will be enough to get this film over the finish line.

It could be a confirmation of what I think Matt Damon said a long time ago: that the A-lister – the name that will sell a movie – doesn’t really exist anymore. Now it’s more of a character. Captain America will sell a movie, not the random movie Chris is currently playing. So that could be evidence.

You can listen to the full discussion starting today’s broadcast CBC Listen or in our podcast Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, Available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Jean Kim.