Joe Carnahan’s latest action thriller The Rip (on Netflix) stars Hollywood A-listers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as Dane Dumars and J.D. Byrne, respectively — police officers in a narcotics unit in Miami.
The two begin to second-guess themselves and the motivations of their team members, after they discover upwards of $20 million in cash stashed away in a recently-deceased senior citizen’s attic. The Rip seldom tries to reinvent the trope. Its array of double-crosses, flashbacks, secret phones and well-shot action set-pieces keep the story moving along nicely.
What it focuses on instead is extracting every last bit of mileage from the chemistry between Affleck and Damon, childhood friends and long-time collaborators who burst on the scene in the late 90s with Good Will Hunting (1997), a feel-good coming-of-age drama.
In the game of paranoia that unfolds in The Rip, there are several moments where Damon and Affleck’s characters confer in private. “Hey, it’s just you and me, tell me what’s going on” or “No bullsh**, it’s just us in here,” — the duo is heard saying.
The plot too is designed to highlight the pleasures and tensions of a friendship between two middle-aged men who happen to work together — Dumars is leading the unit because the tempestuous Byrne was passed up for a promotion. Dumars lost his son to cancer a few years ago and has clearly not gotten over it yet, causing Byrne to treat him with kid gloves, at least at first. During a high-tension moment, when Byrne yells at Dumars, “Show me the tip!” (referring to an anonymous tip-off), the latter responds with a deadpan “Just the tip?”. It’s extremely male-coded humour but also, very relatable.
From Clooney-Pitt to Vin Diesel-Paul Walker
George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the 2001 heist drama ‘Ocean’s Eleven’.
Damon-Affleck is without a doubt the greatest modern-era bromance in Hollywood. Whether it’s Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) or more recent collaborations like The Last Duel (2021), audiences and film critics alike have enjoyed watching these two actors in tandem. But they are by no means the only such A-list pairing in recent times.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt, whose bromance began with the iconic heist film Ocean’s Eleven (2001), have since appeared together in the film’s sequels, plus several other projects like the Coen Brothers dark comedy Burn After Reading (2008) and most recently, the action comedy Wolfs (2024).
Where the Damon-Affleck pairing is marked by an abrasive, masculine intensity and ‘lad humour’, the Clooney-Pitt pairing is usually marked by silver-tongued sophistication from both ends.
The partnership between Paul Walker and Vin Diesel made for several memorable moments in the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise.
The 90s, which is when both of the aforementioned bromances began, were in the fact the beginning of many fruitful long-term partnerships in Hollywood — like Seth Rogen and James Franco, who first appeared together in the cult TV series Freaks And Geeks (1999), a high school drama developed by Judd Apatow. There were also Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour movies and Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in the Fast and Furious franchise.
The loser and the hero
And it’s not like The ‘buddy cop’ film was not the only vessel for these collaborations. Several gangster films too saw familiar pairings returning to the screen. Robert de Niro and Joe Pesci appeared in many such movies together, all directed by Martin Scorsese: Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995) and most recently, The Irishman (2021). Pesci also acted alongside De Niro in the espionage thriller The Good Shepherd (2006), which was directed and produced by De Niro himself.
Robert de Niro and Joe Pesci in ‘The Irishman’ (2021).
Not all of these bromances have withstood the test of time, of course. The Diesel-Walker partnership came to a sad end following Walker’s death in a motor accident. A couple of years ago, Rogen announced that he would not collaborate with Franco, after multiple women made grave allegations of sexual misconduct against the latter.
But the ones that have survived — like Damon-Affleck — have certain commonalities. A good on-screen bromance finds its ideal dynamic quickly and sticks to its variations: in the Damon-Affleck partnership, Affleck usually plays the “loser” character whereas Damon plays the all-American hero who tolerates his friend’s eccentricities out of affection. A good bromance is self-aware and unafraid to poke fun at itself — Damon-Affleck have done so several times, across multiple Kevin Smith meta-comedies where they have played exaggerated versions of themselves.
A good bromance, most of all, shows personal growth in both parties involved — The Rip, too, therefore, ends with a scene of peace and unhurried tranquillity, our heroes sharing a beachside sunrise over beer, having learnt a valuable lesson in trust, brotherhood and forgiveness.
The writer is working on his first book of non-fiction.
Published – January 30, 2026 11:04 am IST
