The Rip

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

Joe Carnahan's The Rip is a good meat and potatoes crime film that stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and is now streaming on Netflix. The duo are members of a Tactical Narcotics Team investigating crooked cops ripping off narcotics dealers in Miami. The portrayal of law enforcement officials on the border line of criminality couldn't be more timely. No character in the film seems completely trustworthy and there are two outright rat finks among them. Carnahan's films are pretty much always studies in machismo and The Rip is no exception. Even the distaff members of Ben and Matt's crew, Teyana Taylor and Catalina Sandino Moreno, engage in the chop busting banter so typical of males in packs. 

Carnahan's screenplay is well constructed and smart, but there is an inevitable sense of déjà vu to the proceedings. If you've seen one corrupt cop movie, you've seen a facsimile of The Rip. Still, the performances are solid and Juan Miguel Azpiroz's cinematography bathes the action sequences in delirious colors, making this, by far, Carnahan's most visually exciting film. The finale of the film has Affleck and Damon having a beer together on a beach as the sun rises over Miami. If this is their last film together, then this would be a fittingly romantic capstone to an onscreen bromance that has spanned the decades.