The Rip Assessment: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Elevate This Intense (And Very Good) Cop Thriller

It’s January. Solely a few weeks into the yr at finest. That is the month within the yearly film slate once we get initiatives that studios do not know what to do with, both as a result of they’re not good or as a result of they merely don’t know if there may be an viewers for them.

So, naturally, after I noticed {that a} crime thriller starring & produced by two extremely well-known actors (and finest pals since grade college), Ben Affleck & Matt Damon, was popping out this week, my thoughts went to lower than optimistic locations. Damon is starring in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey this summer time, and Affleck is starring in one other Netflix movie later this yr that he’s directing as nicely; due to this fact, The Rip HAS to be, at finest, the minor appetizer to their most important programs afterward, proper? And even worse, the advertising ploy that places their face on the market, however doesn’t fairly add up as a film. 

Properly, very like the expertise of watching The Rip itself, my recommendation to you’ll be don’t belief all the pieces you assume you recognize to be true.

Primarily based on actual occasions deeply private to author/director Joe Carnahan & his buddy’s expertise as head of tactical narcotics for the Miami-Dade Police Division, the movie finds an analogous tactical workforce, led by newly appointed Lieutenant Dane Dumars (Damon), in a state of grief, anger, & turmoil as one in all their very own, Captain Jackie Velez (“S.W.A.T.” star Lina Esco), was gunned down on her strategy to meet an informant.

Questioned by the FBI and fraying on the seams, the workforce responds to a tip a couple of derelict stash home with a substantial amount of money on website. When the estimate goes from 1000’s to a number of million, belief among the many group is examined and feelings begin raging uncontrolled. As outdoors forces be taught in regards to the dimension of the seizure, all the pieces is known as into query and their lives could also be on the road.

Influenced by the extra interpersonal, character-driven cop thrillers of his late 70s/early 80s youth, Carnahan lands The Rip smack between his far grittier, extra intense riff on the style NARC with a extra easy crime story like latest Netflix movies like Insurgent Ridge, Reptile, or Misplaced Bullet – police corruption blended with a whodunnit swerve & a climactic shoot out. 

The screenplay, co-written by TV police procedural Michael McGrale, is designed to bluff, distract, & distort till you consider that the majority anybody on this star-studded workforce – Golden Globe winner Teyana Taylor (One Battle After One other) and Oscar nominee/Emmy winner Steven Yeun (Beef) outdoors of Damon & Affleck – might be in on jacking the rip or one thing extra heinous. As soon as the film strikes to the stash home, the movie flows with the performances of Damon & Affleck as they bounce from room to room telling assorted lies and half-truths for the advantage of who wants to listen to them, even to themselves. The chemistry between the long-time pals & frequent collaborators raises the ceiling for each scene they’re in, unafraid to get intense with the believability of their characters’ long-standing relationship by no means doubtful. 

The ability of the movie is within the orchestration & reveal of who’s in charge of the narrative resulting in how the corrupt lastly get uncovered. Will we wish to consider a very good man with nothing to lose could be corrupted by greed & energy? Or do we predict {that a} seedy underbelly inside the division might be making strikes & dismantling from inside? Something is feasible because the narrative & tone shifts with the rise of the stakes (shoutout to composer & frequent Carnahan collaborator Clinton Shorter for punctuating these tonal shifts with well-constructed, ominous rips of his personal). 

After all, as it is a fashionable Carnahan movie, the dominoes topple one after the other till the bullets begin flying and boy do they. The motion, whereas not as relentless as Carnahan’s Frank Grillo movies (Cop Store, Boss Degree), is well staged and ramped up because the movie progresses. Whereas the explosive armored automobile chase will stand out among the many relaxation, the most effective executions could lie within the tighter environments just like the armored car inside standoff or the assault on the house storage.

Whereas the movie does have its weak factors in sure dialogue exchanges or its overly saccharine last moments, The Rip could also be one of many 2020s most entertaining regulation enforcement crime thrillers; filled with intrigue, deception, & adrenaline in a usually useless spot of the yr. Not often can we get the mixture of status A-list appearing expertise & explosive style storytelling that doesn’t really feel prefer it’s grabbing for a paycheck or an award, so get pleasure from this one whilst you can. 

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Watch The Rip If You Like

• Prince of the Metropolis
• Narc
• Triple Frontier
• Insurgent Ridge
• Finish of Watch

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MVP of The Rip

Ben Affleck as Detective Sgt. J.D. Byrne

That is my favourite register for Affleck. Expletive flying, gruff exterior, facial hair touting, overwhelmed down by life register. The Boston ahead dealing with model of Affleck.

The City, Triple Frontier, and now The Rip – all of them let Affleck be the road rat, the time bomb, the fuck you; the uppercut in an ensemble of jabs. On this movie specifically, he will get to sq. off usually with the extra subdued & calculating Damon, which pitches him completely because the everlasting 5 o’clock shadow with muscle tissue and a finger on the set off. Affleck simply works for me as a snarky blunt instrument who smiles when known as a bully by his youthful brother. It’s simply science. 

Get your popcorn prepared! This twisty replace on the traditional soiled cop crime thriller is strictly the kind of dormant style that Netflix can carry again into our lives to nice success. Damon & Affleck elevate the procedural parts whereas author/director Joe Carnahan retains the thriller flowing till the bullets fly. One other well-produced style movie from Netflix in 2026!