George Clooney recently voiced his frustrations about Quentin Tarantino not recognizing him as a movie star. Ironically, if Clooney continues making films like this, he might just prove Tarantino right. In the latest crime comedy, “Wolfs,” Clooney and Brad Pitt lack the usual charisma that fans expect, likening their presence to a pair of mundane Sports Direct mugs. The film revolves around two rival underworld fixers who are forced to collaborate on a chaotic job.

“Wolfs,” which had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, harks back to an era when having two A-list actors and a catchy premise could easily draw crowds to the box office. Writer-director Jon Watts, known for helming the recent Spider-Man trilogy, clearly draws inspiration from the irreverent buddy capers of Shane Black. However, unlike Black’s sharp, profane dialogue and intricate plots filled with swift twists, “Wolfs” offers a series of forced, eccentric crises. Clooney and Pitt find themselves repetitively swearing in place of delivering genuinely funny lines.

The film’s initial incident is far from convincing. Amy Ryan portrays New York City’s district attorney, who inexplicably rents a $10,000 hotel suite for a one-night stand with an unkempt, unappealing student (Austin Abrams) she just met in the hotel lobby. This unlikely scenario appears even more absurd when considering Ryan’s character was probably written as male initially, given that Poorna Jagannathan’s underworld medic is the only other female role in the film, serving more as a plot device than a character.

As the plot unfolds, drugs are consumed, leading to the student slipping and falling unconscious in his underwear—potentially dead. Faced with the possible ruin of her career, Ryan’s character calls Clooney for help. Concurrently, the hotel’s surveillance-obsessed manager (voiced by Frances McDormand) sends in Pitt. Both fixers are shocked to find they’re not the lone wolves they thought they were—hinting at the film’s grammatically awkward title.

Reluctantly, Clooney and Pitt’s characters pool their resources to first remove the student’s body from the hotel and then deal with four blocks of stolen cocaine discovered in his backpack. Clooney’s joints audibly crack as he drags the student’s body, while Pitt groans bending over; later, they both reach for reading glasses while checking an address on a pager. This moment hints at a potentially endearing subplot about aging that never fully develops.

Despite being portrayed as seasoned veterans of the clean-up game, Clooney and Pitt’s characters make numerous unforced errors. When their mission leads them to a mob boss’s wedding (played by Zlatko Burić), where they’re warned they’ll be assassinated if recognized, they bizarrely decide to blend in by joining the dancing. Every scene seems designed to facilitate their humiliation, often in ways that defy logic.

An Apple TV+ production, “Wolfs” carries itself with the air of classic Hollywood entertainment but ends up feeling more like a modern streaming platform filler. While it attempts to pay homage to Shane Black’s style and even “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” it ultimately falls into the category of lightweight action comedies created to lend star power to digital brands. Comparable titles include Netflix’s “Red Notice,” “Heart of Stone,” and “The Gray Man,” and Apple’s own “Ghosted.” Having endured these films, it seems they serve more as eye-catching decorations than substantial entertainment.

Screening at the Venice Film Festival. Available on Apple TV+ from Sept 27.