WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for Wolfs (2024)!Reuniting Brad Pitt and George Clooney after 2008’sBurn After Reading,Wolfspairs the movie stars as two unnamed “fixers” hired to clean up the same job. The Jon Watts-directed action movie utilizes the chemistry between the actors notably showcased inSteven Soderbergh’sOcean’s Trilogyto craft a hilarious buddy comedy, paying homage to plenty of crime films, buddy movies, and action thrillers that came before. Perhaps unexpectedly, thedynamic and journey of Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s fixers inWolfsare most reminiscent of a 1969 Western classicthat starred Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
ThoughWolfsoperates on the surface as a dark buddy action comedy, many of its story beats and tropes also reflect those ofclassic movies in the Western genre. From the aging “lone wolf” outlaw protagonists to the shootouts, warring gangs, and road trip premise,Wolfscould very well be considered a neo-Western.What sealsWolfs’ Western categorization is its many similarities to the 1969 classicButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, with the 2024 crime comedy borrowing the Western’s famous ending scene, casting star power with the lead duo, dynamic between protagonists, and conflicts with other gangs and criminals.
Wolfs Is Very Similar To Robert Redford & Paul Newman’s Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
Clooney & Pitt’s Fixers Are Comparable To Butch & Sundance
The final moments ofWolfsrecreate the famous shootout ending ofButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which has since been immortalized through numerous remakes, spoofs, and homages in other forms of media. As Clooney and Pitt’s nameless fixers exit the diner with guns blazing against gangs sent after them,Wolfsends on a freeze frame of the two shooting their guns, leaving it ambiguous as to whether they die or survive in the conflict. WhileWolfs’ recreation of this scene carries plenty of meaning for the fixers’ journeys, it isn’t the only similarity to the 1969 movie.
Clooney and Pitt’s fixers are alsoWolfs’ respective versions of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. While they begin the movie as strangers who bicker over their strategies and skills as fixers,Wolfsgradually sees the two become Western-style outlaw “partners,” which is reinforced by the Kid (Austin Abrams) frequently referring to them as such. Like Butch and Sundance,George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s moviecharacters have to go on the road as they avoid being caught for their crime, withWolfs’ fixers being joined by the “Kid” while the 1969 movie’s characters are joined by Sundance’s lover Etta Place.
Brad Pitt & George Clooney Officially Have Their Ocean’s Replacement Franchise After 17 Years
Brad Pitt & George Clooney’s latest movie Wolfs, their first collaboration since 2008, already has a sequel in the works weeks before its release.
Furthermore, whileButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s iconic outlaws battle opposing Old West gangs and Bolivian bandits in South America,Wolfs’ fixers find themselves up against both Croatian and Albanian gangs after a setup lands them with five bricks of drugs. Before their shootout in the2024 action movie, Clooney and Pitt safely drop off the Kid back home, similar to Place returning to the US shortly before Butch and Sundance’s standoff gunfight finale. Ultimately,Wolfsgives a modern city look at Butch and Sundance if they had first met in their 60s rather than 40s and 30s.
Wolfsmarks Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s seventh movie together afterOcean’s Eleven(2001),Confessions of a Dangerous Mind(2002),Ocean’s Twelve(2004),Ocean’s Thirteen(2007),Burn After Reading(2008), andIF(2024).
The Real Meaning Of Wolfs Repeating Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid’s Iconic Shootout Ending
Wolfs Uses Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid To Emphasize Its Themes
To sealWolfs’ comparisons between George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s duo andPaul Newman and Robert Redford’s Western duo, the 2024 movie mimics their shootout ending scene. Knowing they’re likely stepping out into their deaths, Clooney and Pitt’s fixers look at one another, tell them they’ll reveal their names if they survive, ready their weapons, and burst out of the diner firing at the criminals shooting back at them. Remaking this scene is Watts’ way of telling viewers thatthe fixers have now achieved Butch and Sundance status, abandoning their “lone wolf” ways to go out guns-a-blazing with their partner.
Wolfsrepeats this sentiment with Clooney and Pitt’s characters, as the wolves accept their fates and roles in this criminal world, but, at least this time, they’re not doing it alone.
Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s charactersemerge into the shootout acknowledging that after years of going against the law and rebelling against society, they can’t abandon this part of themselves and “go straight.” So, in what’s likely their final moments,Butch and Sundance go out in true bandit fashion with their closest confidante and the only person who can truly understand them.Wolfsrepeats this sentiment with Clooney and Pitt’s characters, as the wolves accept their fates and roles in this criminal world, but, at least this time, they’re not doing it alone.
Clooney & Pitt Could Translate Their Action Chops Into An Old West Story
AfterWolfs, it’s theperfect time for George Clooney and Brad Pitt to reunite on a more traditional Western genre movie. The duo has now collaborated on various crime and action comedies, and these skills would be easily translated into a Western. Clooney has previously starred in Western genre-blended movies likeO Brother Where Art Thou?andFrom Dusk Till Dawn, with Pitt having ledLegends of the FallandThe Assassination of Jesse James. WithWolfsdepicting them as a modernButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid-style duo, Clooney and Pitt prove themselves fit for an Old West collaboration.
Wolfs
Cast
Wolfs is an action-thriller film written and directed by Jon Watts, and sees the on-screen reunion of Brad Pitt and George Clooney after nearly fifteen years. The film centers on two fixers who are brought together when they’re both hired for the same job.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid follows the exploits of two notorious outlaws as they navigate the challenges of a changing American West. Starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, the film combines elements of adventure and buddy comedy, capturing their attempts to evade capture while maintaining camaraderie. Directed by George Roy Hill, it explores themes of friendship and survival against the backdrop of early 20th-century societal shifts.
