The Rip

Directed by Joe Carnahan, The Rip follows grizzled cops Dane Dumars (Matt Damon) and JD Byrne (Ben Affleck) as they encounter various complications during a seemingly routine operation. Filmmaker Carnahan, armed with his own screenplay, delivers a relentlessly erratic endeavor that gets off to a distressingly underwhelming start, as The Rip kicks off with a rather uninvolving opening stretch that provides little in the way of exposition or even an entry point – with the arms-length atmosphere compounded Juan Miguel Azpiroz’s low-rent, frustratingly murky cinematography. And while the picture never quite becomes as gripping as one might’ve anticipated (and hoped), The Rip eventually does segue into a watchable midsection that’s heightened by the first-class efforts of its various performers – with Damon and Affleck’s solid work here matched by eclectic periphery players like Steven Yuen, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Teyana Taylor. (Kyle Chandler’s magnetic turn as a rough-and-tumble DEA agent remains a recurring highlight within the proceedings, to be sure.) By the time the relatively satisfying final stretch rolls around, The Rip has confirmed its place as a decent-enough actioner that would’ve benefited from some serious streamlining.

**1/2 out of ****