The Rip, on Netflix: a routine thriller for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
Explosive B series specialist Joe Carnahan brings together Will Hunting’s two old friends for a story of crooked cops and big money, not as exciting as hoped.
Bringing together Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to headline the same film? It is not strictly speaking an event, the duo of Will Hunting having already reformed twice in the last five years, first in The Last Duel by Ridley Scott, then in Airabout the invention of Air Jordans, directed by Affleck and released directly on Prime Video. The last time we saw Damon in a movie, he was starring in the action buddy comedy with Affleck’s little brother, Casey, in The Instigators (on AppleTV). And so here is today The Ripbig thriller made in Netflix… In short, it’s routine, even if we’re always happy to see them again, and to watch them add new nuances to their cinema bromance.
Matt and Ben this time play two weathered and bearded cops, veterans of an elite unit of the Miami police specialized in hunting the big fish of drug trafficking and who, after a member of their team is murdered, find themselves under investigation by the Feds. The matter becomes complicated when the task force led by Damon raids a traffickers’ den, and discovers no less than 20 million dollars hidden behind a wall. The law requires that the police remain on site to count the money seized, this is the start of a nighttime closed session under high tension. The sum is so big that it turns heads, the cops begin to suspect some of them of being crooks, the pressure mounts, especially as the house where the raid takes place soon finds itself besieged by invisible enemies…
The screenplay, written by director Joe Carnahan, has the scent of The Shield reinvented way Hostage houseand benefits greatly from the information that Carnahan got directly from his friend Chris Casiano, a Miami cop. The documentary background is felt, it structures the film. And he gives us a bone to gnaw on while we watch this behind closed doors set up, which is rather exciting on paper, but in reality quite limp on screen. Matt Damon walks in circles, Affleck makes his usual sulky face of a guy having a bad day, Steven Yeun sends mysterious text messages in the night… The plot gets bogged down and gives a feeling of treading water, when we should be sweating profusely while watching the paranoia escalate.
The second hour is more rewarding, when the cops go for some fresh air, and when Carnahan, who we know is capable of the best and the worst (should we continue to hope that he one day regains the level of his fabulous Wolf Territory ?) brings out the heavy artillery, with chases, shootouts and cascading twists – not always plausible, the twists, but entertaining. Everyone pretends to believe it, Damon and Affleck play well with their wrinkles, their complicity and their bags under their eyes, and the film fulfills its role as Friday night entertainment on Netflix. But we were entitled to expect something a little more memorable, given the money spent (the New York Times speaks of a budget of 100 million dollars, an even bigger jackpot than that at the heart of the film) and the forces involved.
The Ripby Joe Carnahan, with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Steven Yeun… On Netflix.
