The Reel Review
Just weeks after their captain is mysteriously gunned down, the narcotics unit at the Miami-Dade Police Department starts to wonder if there are some dirty cops are among them during a raid of a derelict North Miami stash house containing millions of dollars. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck star in this action/thriller whodunit based on a true story.
The Rip, its title cop-speak for seizing the criminals’ drugs or weapons, is a mindlessly entertaining, old-fashioned gritty crime drama, with a slick production and a strong ensemble cast that includes Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another), Steven Yuen (Minari, The Walking Dead), Kyle Chandler (Anniversary, Friday Night Lights), and Catalina Sandino Moreno (Ballerina, Maria Full of Grace). The first hour of the story from co-writer/director Joe Carnahan (The A-Team) is particularly intense, as we wonder which of the cops may be the dirty ones.
At times, the story strains hard against credibility, but for a mindless movie on a rainy or snowy day, this Law & Order knockoff (just with bigger marquee names and a bigger budget) absolutely fits the bill.
REEL FACTS
• The Rip marks the first time that Netflix has agreed to pay a one-time bonus to the 1200 people who worked on the film, if the movie meets certain performance benchmarks within its first 90 days.
• The film is dedicated to Jake Casiano, who died of leukemia at the age of 10. Damon’s role is based on Jake’s father, Miami Police Department Captain Chris Casiano, who was involved in the real-life investigation that inspired this film.
• The Rip is the 13th film collaboration between Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, from their first, playing uncredited extras in 1989’s Field of Dreams, to the most recent, 2023’s Air, about how Nike’s iconic Air Jordan sneakers came to be.
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