The premise of The Rip sounds like the dark mirror of Good Will Hunting

There is something genuinely exciting about seeing Matt Damon and Ben Affleck share a screen again in a thriller. I know they have worked together constantly behind the scenes but their on-screen dynamic has always been the heart of their career.

The Rip releases on January 16 and the setup feels like a direct inversion of their usual roles. In Good Will Hunting they were brothers in spirit who wanted the best for each other. Here they are playing cops whose loyalty rots away because of greed. Watching that real-life chemistry curdle into paranoia and betrayal is such a strong hook for a movie.

It reminds me of those great 90s thrillers like Trespass or A Simple Plan where the money is just a plot device to destroy relationships. We haven't had a solid mid-budget movie about desperate people making bad choices in a long time.

Joe Carnahan is the right director for this too. He strips away the glamour. If he can get Damon and Affleck to tap into that desperate energy he got out of Ray Liotta in Narc this could be one of the best crime films of the year.