The Rip: Why Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Reunion Feels Like a Missed Opportunity
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A new cop drama starring Hollywood’s favorite duo, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, arrives on Netflix with a stacked cast and considerable hype – but ultimately fails to deliver the spark audiences expect from their celebrated partnership. The Rip, directed by Joe Carnahan, is a gritty, by-the-book crime thriller that seems to prioritize realistic police procedure over capitalizing on the undeniable chemistry between its two leads.
The film follows Miami Police Department detective J.D. Byrne (Affleck) and his superior, Lieutenant Dane Dumars (Damon), as they navigate a conspiracy surrounding a $20 million illicit cash stash. While the premise holds potential, the execution feels surprisingly flat, a far cry from the engaging dynamic that propelled Affleck and Damon to stardom with Good Will Hunting.
A Long-Awaited On-Screen Pairing
This marks the first time Affleck and Damon have shared top billing since their 1999 dark comedy, Dogma. The extended hiatus has naturally generated significant anticipation, tapping into a wave of nostalgia for the pair’s early collaborative success. However, as one observer noted, the film seems strangely uninterested in exploring the personal connection that has defined their decades-long friendship.
Instead, Carnahan, known for his weighty masculine dramas like Narc and The Grey, focuses on the procedural aspects of the case. Affleck and Damon, sporting beards and perpetually furrowed brows, deliver performances that are competent but lack the playful energy fans have come to associate with them. They spend much of the runtime growling law-enforcement jargon into walkie-talkies, with a hand constantly resting on a weapon.
Lost Potential in a Familiar Genre
If The Rip had been made in the 1980s or 90s, it could have been a crackling action spectacle, reminiscent of films like Lethal Weapon. The script, however, eschews witty one-liners in favor of a more grounded, albeit less engaging, approach. The supporting cast, including Teyana Taylor, Steven Yeun, Kyle Chandler, and Catalina Sandino Moreno, are similarly relegated to delivering tough-guy dialogue and brandishing firearms.
It’s clear, according to reports, that many of the actors were drawn to the project primarily by the opportunity to work alongside Damon and Affleck. The duo’s production company, Artists Equity, also negotiated a profit-sharing model with Netflix, suggesting a strategic business decision as much as an artistic one.
Divergent Paths to Stardom
The reunion comes after markedly different career trajectories for the two actors. Damon has consistently delivered solid performances in blockbuster franchises like Jason Bourne and Ocean’s, while also collaborating with acclaimed directors such as Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan. Affleck, on the other hand, has experienced a more volatile path, marked by both critical successes like Gone Girl and notorious flops like Gigli. He has also found success behind the camera, winning a Best Picture Oscar for directing Argo.
Their previous on-screen collaborations since Dogma – Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel (2021) and the Nike-focused dramedy Air (2023) – offered glimpses of their dynamic, but neither fully recaptured the magic of their early work. In both films, Damon took the lead role, with Affleck playing a supporting character providing comic relief, a balance first established in Good Will Hunting.
A Comfortable Collaboration, But Is It Enough?
Despite the film’s shortcomings, there’s a sense that Damon and Affleck are comfortable working together again. As they’ve stated in recent interviews, they intentionally avoided rushing into another co-lead project, wanting to establish themselves as individuals before revisiting their iconic partnership.
However, the off-screen camaraderie and quiet rivalry that define their relationship rarely translate to the screen in The Rip. Their characters feel too similar, lacking the distinct personalities that made their earlier collaborations so compelling. Perhaps, as one analyst suggested, the film’s appeal lies in its suitability for streaming services during a lull in the awards season, offering a reliably gritty, if unremarkable, crime drama.
Ultimately, The Rip isn’t a disaster, but it’s a missed opportunity. It’s a by-the-book thriller that fails to fully utilize the talents of its charismatic stars. While it’s encouraging to see Damon and Affleck comfortable carrying a film together, audiences are left hoping their next collaboration will tap into the unique chemistry that made them Hollywood icons.
