As a filmmaker, Joe Carnahan is a bit of an interesting case. When he broke through in 2002 with Narc, he excited many critics. Many praised his ability to inject new verve into cop film clichés. Others went as far as to compare his work to the kind of cop films made in the 1970s by the new crop of “outlaw” directors who defined the decade. In the 24 years since, he’s been a bit all over the place. He directed would-be blockbusters (A-Team), existential dramas dressed up as old man action fare (The Grey), and direct-to-video features at the tail end of that even being a thing (Stretch). And then there’s the time he wrote the script for the truly deplorable Death Wish remake. Nonetheless, thanks to movies like Copshop and Boss Level, he still feels like a director who can at least entertain.

That is, perhaps, the easiest short review of The Rip. It won’t be anyone’s idea of something special, but it does, at least, entertain.

Named for a cop slang referring to a seizure made at the scene of a crime, the movie immediately projects a shadow-heavy, paranoid tone as Captain Jackie Velez (Lina Esco) attempts, and fails, to escape a group of masked antagonists. Carnahan—who also wrote the script from a story by him and Michael McGrale—quickly establishes a version of Miami that’s rarely seen in other films and shows set in the city. Unfortunately, as successful as he is in doing so, The Rip largely feels visually and tonally generic after this prologue.

Velez’s death brings out the feds, as personified by Agent Del Byrne (Scott Adkins in a performance weirdly almost devoid of stunts and fights). Miami’s had enough problems with corruption that the Bureau has an operating assumption that the killer is also a cop. That puts the agent at immediate loggerheads with his brother J.D. (Ben Affleck). He works in the same unit as Velez, nicknamed TNT, and was her not-so-secret lover. J.D.’s best friend and Velez’s second-in-command, Lieutenant Dane Dumars, seems something more than exhausted. The culprit, a recent personal tragedy, seems to not only have undercut his drive, but his faith in the world at large.

Nonetheless, when Dumars gets a hot tip about a stash house, he rounds up his team Along with J.D. there’s Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor), and Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandino Moreno). They have the kind of easy but shallow chemistry one expects in this sort of film. They banter wonderfully, but beyond J.D. and Dumars, there’s little evidence of any sort of deep connection. That’s trouble when they follow the tip to an unassuming home in a quiet neighborhood. There, they find Desi (Sasha Calle) and considerably more cash and trouble than expected.

While, as noted above, the film does take on a generic feel visually after its opening, the middle third at Desi’s home proves The Rip’s most compelling section. Forced to stay put to follow procedure as threats begin to amass outside, the team rushes to count and properly catalog the cash. Given, by multipliers, how much larger the haul is, temptation begins to sneak in. Salazar is going through a messy divorce. Baptiste recognizes the life-changing possibility of even a fraction of the cash. Dumars might be even more broken than it initially appears. J.D. is weirdly jumpy. Only Ro seems dedicated to both doing the rip by the book and making sure Desi gets treated properly.

Besides enjoying how cinematographer Juan Miguel Azpiroz works the house and the surrounding neighborhood to ratchet up tension, the treat here is the acting. Yeun is an excellent choice for Ro, his conflicted feelings playing across his face legibly but without sacrificing subtlety. Calle finds a groove to play Desi as a combination of victim, opportunist, and innocent, leaving just enough wiggle room for her to break completely bad. Damon starts at about a 3 but slowly wields that exhaustion to the part’s benefit, giving each of his choices an unsettling undertone. Finally, the movie lets Affleck play J.D. as a twitchy, unreadable hothead, a mode at which he excels. Things are at their best when Affleck and Damon play off each other. Whether it is whining about management in a bathroom or passive aggressively implying the other is bent, they just sell it.

Kyle Chandler is a welcome sight almost under any circumstances. However, when he shows up here as DEA Agent Matty Nix effectively cutting the tension, one can’t help but sigh. It also brings the script’s machinations, betrayals, and red herrings to the forefront. At this point, the movie sacrifices any logic or down-to-earth quality for rapid-fire reversals. They’re fun, as far as that thing goes. Still, the twists and turns start to feel like overcompensation by the time we reach dueling car chases and one-on-one gun fights/speech battles.

Nonetheless, thanks to the Carnahan vibes and the boys from Boston chemistry, The Rip does end up entertaining.

The Rip delivers a warrant on Netflix starting January 16.

The Rip Trailer: