Time: 113 Minutes
Age Rating: 16 – Offensive language, bloody violence
Cast:
Matt Damon as Lieutenant Dane Dumars
Ben Affleck as Detective Sergeant J.D. Byrne
Steven Yeun as Detective Mike Ro
Teyana Taylor as Detective Numa Baptiste
Sasha Calle as Desiree “Desi” Lopez Molina
Catalina Sandino Moreno as Detective Lolo Salazar
Scott Adkins as FBI Agent Del Byrne
Kyle Chandler as DEA Agent Mateo “Matty” Nix
Director: Joe Carnahan

I was already interested in The Rip for the mere fact that it is Joe Carnahan’s latest, I liked his work with The Grey, Smokin’ Aces, Narc, Copshop and The A-Team. It also had a good cast assembled, including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It looked like a standard and simple cop crime thriller and it comfortably delivered on being that.

The Rip is a straightforward and tight crime thriller. The plot itself is quite familiar, but was mildly interesting, with some decent and well set up twists. For the first third, I wasn’t sure about the writing, mainly with the dialogue. But it does well at creating and maintaining tension, especially between characters, and it really pays off in the second half.

There’s a great ensemble cast here. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are really good and unsurprisingly have a really great dynamic, sharing strong chemistry with each other. The rest of the cast including Teyana Taylor, Steven Yeun, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Sasha Calle, Kyle Chandler and Scott Adkins are also solid, despite some actors being better utilised than others and not having the strongest material to work with.

Joe Carnahan’s direction is reliable; it’s well shot and he effectively builds up a tense atmosphere. The Rip isn’t stacked with action and largely leaves it for the latter sections of the movie, but is well constructed and entertaining to watch when present.

The Rip is a straightforward, but decent and tense enough cop crime thriller, elevated by its solid cast and action.