‘The Rip’: Damon and Affleck Make Netflix Exciting Again

…while also exposing everything wrong with the world’s biggest streaming service.

Some of my fondest movie memories are from what I would call “basement movies.” Let me explain. There are three essential ingredients to a “basement movie.” There has to be pizza, obviously. There has to be soda — preferably a crisp Dr. Pepper or six. And the movie has to have action in it. Dudes rock, that sort of thing.

This is all preface to say: The Rip is the definition of a “basement movie.” It, for lack of a better term, well, rips — claustrophobic locations, muscular action sequences, a twisty narrative. But the real selling point is why you all will probably click on the tile on Netflix in the first place: the reunion of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck once again.

Let’s back up for a moment. This is the fifth collaboration (not counting cameo appearances) of Hollywood’s favorite best friends, following their latest, 2023’s Air. They, of course, exploded after the Oscar-winning sensation Good Will Hunting, went their separate movie star ways, then finally found each other again while writing and starring in the Ridley Scott film, The Last Duel. That collaboration made the two rethink the next stage of their careers and want to keep making movies together again, leading to the two founding a production company focused on rewarding creative partners equally (Artists Equity), making Air together (which Affleck directed), and now, The Rip.

Neither wrote nor directed The Rip (those privileges went to action filmmaker journeyman Joe Carnahan of The Grey fame), but you can immediately see what attracted them to produce and star in the project. Both Damon and Affleck have been attracted to action thrillers throughout their careers, especially ones that chase the legacy of filmmaker Michael Mann. Affleck’s The Town is clearly a spiritual successor to Mann’s Heat, with the characters in The Town even literally watching Mann’s film. The Rip, then, is Mann’s Miami Vice through the eyes of Carnahan — it’s darker, grimier, more violent, and far edgier. It too takes place in Miami, but a Miami of dirty suburban houses, dark swamps, and moody cityscapes.

What’s it about? To dive too much into the narrative is to spoil its twisty nature, but to give you a brief taste: The Rip focuses on Damon’s Lt. Dane and Affleck’s Sergeant JD, who discover millions in cash in a rundown home in Miami. Immediately, trust begins to fray between them and the rest of their team, with time up against them as they try and get the cash out of the house over the course of one long night. I will say nothing more, but safe to say: nothing is as it seems, forcing Damon and Affleck to get to be less friends and more adversaries over the course of the film — something that clearly excited them, getting to leverage their lifelong chemistry and history to add significant weight to the project.

As talented as Carnahan is behind the camera, it’s clear the movie wouldn’t be half as interesting without their presence elevating the material and the proceedings. The Rip is not aspiring to be anything more than an exciting action thriller — one that we used to get so many of back in the 1990s and early 2000s. It’s content with being a double rather than a home run, but it’s Damon and Affleck who are rounding the bases, giving the film its juice.

The rest of the outstanding supporting cast — Kyle Chandler, Teyana Taylor, Steven Yeun, Sasha Calle — add charisma and gravitas to scene after scene, with moody cinematography from frequent Carnahan collaborator Juan Miguel Azpiroz and a thundering score from Clinton Shorter elevating the film further.

While it’s a “basement movie,” all I could think of during the runtime was how much I would have loved to have seen it in theaters. Which brings us to the other interesting kernel of The Rip: its status as a Netflix original. Saying such a fact automatically adds certain stigma to a project, something that Damon and Affleck have been incredibly open about in recent interviews as they promote the movie. In a sit-down with Joe Rogan that has gone viral since its release, Damon even confirms what has only been rumored about Netflix originals: that creators are instructed by higher-ups to “reiterate the plot in dialogue 3 or 4 times, because people are on their phones.” They also need to switch up the traditional rising tide structure of action movies, putting a big set piece into the first five minutes to hook viewers before they switch to a different show or movie.

The Rip, thankfully, for the most part, is an exception to these rules, outside of the opening action set piece, largely due to the presence of Damon and Affleck throwing their weight around. While they are using the world’s biggest streaming service to get their movie made — one that, likely, wouldn’t get the funding it normally would’ve gotten 15-20 years ago for that to happen — they’re also exposing exactly what is most troublesome about the current state of movies.

With Netflix recently buying Warner Bros. (if that sticks), those concerns are only going to grow. Funny that a tight action thriller of all things, distributed by the very studio in question, is helping expose those problems to the moviegoing public.

If all we got from The Rip was a wake-up call about what exactly is happening over at Netflix and how it’s damaging movies as a whole, that would be more than enough reason for it to exist. For it to also be an engaging action thriller featuring two of our last movie stars getting to have a ball working together again is icing on the cake.

The Rip knows exactly what it is and what it wants to give to the audience. If you’re like me, grab some pizza and a Dr. Pepper and click that tile this week. It’s not often we get a January release that is this exciting.

That, well….rips.