There is nothing of note coming out in the theaters this weekend, aside from the kind of horror/slasher films I typically avoid for The Legionnaire.  If Cameron, or some other practicing Catholic with a penchant for watching movies wishes to review them for us, please feel free to contact me.  Otherwise, I thought I would take this opportunity to catch up on a new streaming movie that premiered at least fairly recently.  That counts as a new release, no?  Then again, much like the titles I tend to not look at, this one has little to recommend it in terms of the Faith.  There is a moment when we see a statue of Mary holding the Infant Jesus.  Yet, it is quickly pushed aside for the illicit prize behind it.  Still, unlike the other examples to which I alluded, at least this one does not have anything demonic?

When you use the word “demonic,” there is no easy way to transition into The Rip since it, in fact, lacks that kind of material.  What it does begin with is Captain Jackie Velez (Lina Esco), leader of the Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT) of the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), talking to someone confidentially.  She has been given a tip from a confidential informant and is driving to that person’s location.  Upon parking, however, she is ambushed by two armed men.  Before she is shot to death, she sends a message and throws her phone into the water behind her.  The fact that such a police officer is murdered is bound to raise questions, and the first people approached are TNT members.  They are all questioned separately (in extremely dimly lit rooms for some reason), and the implication does not sit well with any one of them.  The two being questioned the most are Sergeant J.D. Byrne (Ben Affleck) and Lieutenant Dane Dumars (Matt Damon).  Sergeant Byrne had been romantically involved with Captain Velez, so he especially does not take kindly to the interrogation.  For Lieutenant Dumars, his promotion had come over Sergeant Byrne, and there is some suspicion that this played a role.  Any further divulgences are interrupted when Sergeant Byrne’s session turns violent and the rest of the team goes to break up the fisticuffs.  Not long thereafter, with the rest enjoying some downtime in back of the precinct, Lieutenant Dumars receives a tip about a major stash of money in nearby Hialeah.  Breaking up a chat with a former colleague and current Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officer, Agent Mateo “Marry” Nix (Kyle Chandler), Lieutenant Dumars informs his team of their task and they set out.  Upon arriving at the location, they are greeted by Desiree “Desi” Lopez Molina (Sasha Calle), a young woman who inherited the target house.  Before entering under dubious circumstance, Lieutenant Dumars and the rest try to get her to admit what they believe she is hiding, which are drugs and/or money.  While their search does not turn up any narcotics, their sniffing dog leads them upstairs to a completely empty attic, a stark contrast to the rest of the home.  Behind a wall with the aforementioned statue, they uncover barrels full of stacks of cash, much of which is marked in neatly wrapped plastic bundles, and conveniently labeled with amounts usually ranging around $150,000.  The total for the haul is unlike anything they have ever encountered, being north of $20 million between all the receptacles.  This poses a problem in terms of the scale of the operation that has everyone, particularly Lieutenant Dumars, behaving peculiarly.  The first thing against which everyone grumbles is his command to turn over all their cell phones.  However, this does not deter Sergeant Byrnes, or one of the other more junior members of their group, Detective Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), from complaining.  They are the ones most vocal about the breaches in protocol to this point, and the ones with hidden burner phones.  Adding to the tension is the ringing landline.  Picking up the phone, Lieutenant Dumars is told to take as much money as they desire and leave.  They have thirty minutes to make their decision or they will be attacked.  Instead of retreating, Lieutenant Dumars orders they continue counting the money as they are supposed to do.  It is hard not to dream about what could be done with even a small portion of that fortune, as does Detective Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandino Moreno).  Outside, we see Sergeant Byrnes and Detective Ro making calls for backup, one of which goes to Agent Nix, who promises to be there as soon as possible.  They need the help because the shooting starts not long thereafter.  Emerging from one of the houses, a neighbor hand Lieutenant Dumars a phone.  Through FaceTime, he speaks with the leader of the local cartel, who claims that his people had nothing to do with the violence.  Once the assailants are forced to retreat, everyone goes back to the money and an argument breaks out, with everyone accusing one another of being crooked.  Detective Ro levels the accusation at Lieutenant Dumars, claiming their boss is trying to keep the loot for himself.  The junior officer had got this information from Desi, who had overheard Lieutenant Dumars floating this idea to the ones counting the bills.  For the moment, the matter is dropped and Lieutenant Dumars tells them to load the cash into bags and prepare for transport.  The ride arrives in the form of Agent Nix and his branch’s tanklike truck.  The counters are told to stay behind to wait for fire and rescue since Detective Ro started a blaze.  Meanwhile, Lieutenant Dumars, Sergeant Byrne, Agent Nix, and Detective Ro ride in the back of the armored vehicle.  Along the way, Agent Nix and Detective Ro reveal themselves as the ones who killed Captain Velez, and they planned to split the millions.  With some help from Agent Del Byrne (Scott Adkins) of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Lieutenant Dumars and Sergeant Byrnes take down the dirty cops.  The money had actually been transported with the others, and everything is counted exactly to the last dollar.  They are also pleased to see Desi get twenty percent, before our two leads which the sun rise while enjoying some beers.

I appreciated that the people who I thought might be rotten in The Rip turned out to be good people, but I did not like how we arrive at this conclusion.  The Church is clear on its teaching that it is not correct to do an evil in order to accomplish a good.  Put simply, the ends do not justify the means.  The entire movie, Lieutenant Dumars is misleading his officers and the audience in order to catch the people he believes are guilty of Captain Velez’s murder.  As a story-telling device, it works better as it keeps an audience guessing.  I found it to be convoluted, but I finally understood the message in the end.  Lieutenant Dumars’ tattoos give away the story.  One side reads AWTGG (Are we the good guys?), and the other has WAAWB (We are and always will be).  The first half of the movie asks this question, and the second half answers it.  This makes some sense thematically, but if someone is consistently asking themselves these words, then there might be a disconnect between that person and their faith.  To be fair, not every Catholic is perfect in this endeavor.  Doubt creeps into the most devout person from time-to-time.  Even Jesus in Matthew 26:39 asks that this cup being taken from Him.  That passage is not necessarily meant to convey fear of carrying out His Mission.  What it does is reveal the extent of His humanity.  The movie underscores this point a few times.  As I just mentioned, how many of us when faced with that much money would automatically not be tempted to steal some, regardless of the amount?  God sees big and small acts, and there is little different in them in terms of size.  That is why it rewarding when, in the end, we see that they did not take any moment.  It is clearly the result of some forethought on Lieutenant Dumars part.  However, his means of arriving at that place are flawed.

Ultimately, then, The Rip is a flawed movie.  It is not just because I had trouble following it, but that was a factor.  It is okay to be straightforward, particularly with the truth, which is something discussed in the movie.  Hence, I have mixed feelings on this one.