Kyle Chandler Stars in Netflix Action Thriller The Rip

Kyle Chandler has consistently been an actor that fans love to see appear in projects. Whether he is playing Coach Taylor in the beloved series Friday Night Lights or, most recently, Hal Jordan in the HBO series Lanterns, audiences enjoy watching him take on a new character. He has quite the run of smaller roles in movies and television shows that makes it fun to see what he is going to pop up in next, and his latest film with Netflix is a testament to that.

Before Chandler appeared weekly as Hal Jordan starting in 2016, fans saw him in a completely different kind of role: a DEA agent in the Joe Carnahan movie The Rip. Chandler plays DEA Agent Mateo ‘Matty’ Nix, a man who used to work closely with Lieutenant Dane Dumars (Matt Damon) and Detective Sergeant J.D. Byrne (Ben Affleck). When Jackie Velez (Lina Esco) is murdered, speculation arises that someone in the team is a mole attempting to steal money from a cartel bust. The problem is that no one knows who they can trust.

Part of what makes The Rip work comes down to the chemistry between Damon and Affleck. Fans love seeing the two of them work together, and The Rip allows viewers the chance to question whether the two are at odds within this world. Detective Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), Detective Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor), and Detective Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandino Moreno) get a tip about a house and go to find Desiree ‘Desi’ Lopez Molina (Sasha Calle) there. What follows is a race against the clock and the DEA to secure the big break first.

A group of detectives goes into dark houses on unlit streets without knowing who to trust. The Rip is described as a story where a group of Miami cops discovers a stash of millions in cash, leading to distrust as outsiders learn about the huge seizure and make them question who to rely on.

Two Grounded and Gritty Kyle Chandler Projects In One Year

Chandler always takes a grounded approach to his characters. That approach is what made Coach Eric Taylor an iconic television character. With both The Rip and Lanterns, audiences see how he shines in gritty crime stories. Lanterns adds the layer of a superhero property, but both works show a side of Chandler that fans appreciate. He has tackled many genres throughout his career, such as the comedy Game Night and the drama series Bloodline, but the combination of The Rip and Lanterns marks an incredible stretch for Chandler as an actor.

The Rip uses humor, darkness, and mystery to make the audience question everything happening in the story. Lanterns does something very similar, establishing that Hal Jordan is dead by 2026 and leaving viewers to figure out what happened. Many online fans wonder if he can somehow come back to life, refusing to believe Hal Jordan is truly gone.

Both projects let the audience participate in the journey. Viewers do not know who the bad guy is in The Rip until the end, and navigating whether to trust Damon and Affleck adds to the tension. For fans enjoying Chandler’s recent work, The Rip serves as a compelling watch.

You can watch The Rip on Netflix and catch the latest episodes of Lanterns on Sundays on HBO.

Source: Polygon