What happens when loyalty isn’t an option, and lies become your loyal weapon?
The Rip is a crime thriller directed by Joe Carnahan, inspired by a true story, and made by Artists Equity Productions with Netflix as the distributor.
Starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, the film is now available on Netflix.
The movie addresses issues of systemic police corruption, and it depicts the matter through a very personal character, with a driven focus. The plot revolves around a group of Miami police officers who follow up on a tip about a large amount of money in a house. The discovery leads to an investigation that reveals divisions amongst loyalty, ethics, and professional duties.
With minimalism at its core, Damon leads the cast with a low-key performance, and Affleck’s character, in a somewhat ambiguous role where personal loyalty takes precedence over moral integrity, supports him. They are a duo whose long experience together on screen provides the solid framework for the story, while the rest of the cast, which includes Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Scott Adkins, and Kyle Chandler, effectively flesh out the world of a beleaguered police force.
The story is set in a police force that is demoralised by the unsolved murder of their captain and the constant lack of resources, and in this environment, the film shows how corruption can arise not just as an idea, but as a result of systemic failure and personal despair. The revelation that the money found in the house totals millions is the moment that changes the entire plot orientation from a thriller to a story about the characters’ moral choices.
Carnahan is very careful in his work; not only does he bring it to a close with a clear narrative and clarify the chaos of the story, but he also shows the characters very vividly and in real depth. Cooperating on the script with Michael McGrale, the two writers have managed a very solid and well-structured plot with crisp dialogues that cleverly use the dramatic tension, which moreover is equal to the refinement of characters, leading the audience to a world where power and money are at hand, and therefore the ethical side of the characters fades away at lightning speed.
The cartel being a part of the story also raises the stakes figuratively; however, it remains within the limits of the core crime drama.
The film has a sober and practical look. The cinematography goes more with the look of reality than with the artistic effects, and by doing so, it strengthens the feeling of closeness and thus lets the viewers get directly into the mind of the characters and their surroundings in both the psychological and the physical senses. The costume and set design are also a part of the entire authentic look.
The story is, of course, following the plot device of the same old crime genre to some extent, but besides that, the film keeps the audience interested and on their toes not by constant plot twists but through the blossoming of the characters and their inner conflicts and moral dilemmas.
Furthermore, The Rip, Dirty Money is equally entertaining and thought-provoking, with loyalties, corruption, and the precarious border between duty and self-interest being the main discussable themes.
The Rip – dirty money is now available on Netflix.
Voto 3.5/5
