The Rip

by Julian Spivey

Photo: Netflix

Director: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck & Steven Yeun
Rated: R (language & violence)
Runtime: 1 hour & 53 minutes 

 
There are multiple types of “Netflix movies.” You have the prestige types – the ones Netflix hopes can compete for awards (i.e., “Roma,” “The Irishman,” “Train Dreams”). You have the blockbusters, except on Netflix, they’re almost always disappointing blockbusters (i.e., “The Electric State,” “Rebel Moon”). You have low-budget, made-for-TV-quality films (all starring Lindsay Lohan).

What there hasn’t been enough of when it comes to Netflix original films are movies that are just good and fun, and made for adults, without aspiring to be anything more than a good time.

That’s where director/screenwriter Joe Carnahan’s “The Rip” comes in. “The Rip” is a good, old-fashioned crime drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat because for most of the nearly two-hour runtime, you can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys. It’s the kind of film that used to do well in cinemas before all moviegoers wanted to go to their local Cineplex for was I.P., sequels and prequels.

“The Rip,” based on a true story of Miami-Dade County Sheriff Chris Casiano, stars old pals Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as TNT (Tactical Narcotics Team) members Dane Dumars and JD Byrne, respectively, who recently lost their captain to murder, and the feds believe one of their crew may have been behind it. The remainder of the crew is Teyana Taylor’s Numa Baptiste, Catalina Sandino Moreno as Lolo Salazar and Steven Yeun as Mike Ro. At times during the film, it seems as if any or all of them may have been involved in the death of their captain, which speaks to the fun and intrigue of Carnahan’s script. Kyle Chandler, who deserves more and bigger film roles, also shows up as DEA Agent Matty Nix, who used to work with Dumars and Byrne.

When Damon’s Dumars gets a crime tip about a cash stash at a drug house, a game of cat and mouse ensues for both the law enforcement involved and the audience to figure out who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. And this, when done right – even if it may follow some cliches of the genre – is always a fun watch.

I’ve always loved movies that can keep your attention piqued, while not giving the audience numerous locations, and “The Rip” does a great job at doing that, while the TNT members are kept at the drug house, where they are forced to count their findings (which wind up being $20 million), while being threatened and hunted by what they assume to be the cartel.

The “whodunnit” aspect of “The Rip,” and at times in the film, I literally suspected every one of the main characters (except for Affleck’s Byrne) could’ve been involved in their captain’s murder, keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time, until it culminates in a fantastically tense scene in the back of an armored vehicle.