On Netflix on January 16 is ‘The Rip’ a new police thriller that reunites Ben Affleck (‘Argo’) and Matt Damon (‘The Departed’) for the story of Miami law enforcement who stumble on a giant stash of drug cash, and the chaotic moral quandary that opens up between their team.
Following their successful reunion on ‘Air,’ Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have re-teamed on screen for this new cop thriller, handled by veteran director Joe Carnahan.
Looking to fit squarely into the gritty, brutal law enforcement genre, it lets them go full macho –– but has more going on than you might think at first glance.
Carnahan, who wrote the script based on a story by Michael McGrale, has here found a project so ideally in his wheelhouse he might as well have his name written across it.
The story crackles with acronym-heavy police action and plenty of testosterone, but it also finds time for nuance.
And though you might not guess the Miami setting beyond some opening shots (and dialogue drops) given that the scenes are mostly at night in a cul-de-sac, there is plenty of style on display here, particularly as things ramp up in the third act.
Affleck and Damon naturally work well off of each other, finding a dynamic that works as longtime cop friends whose connection is pushed to the limit here.
Around them, the likes of Teyana Taylor (even if she doesn’t get nearly as much to do as in ‘One Battle After Another’), Steven Yeun and Kyle Chandler contribute superb moments.
‘The Rip’ won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if you enjoy your thrillers hard-edged and unexpectedly crafted, it’s certainly got something. And we don’t just mean an unexpected haul of drug money.
A group of Miami cops discovers a stash of millions in cash, leading to distrust as outsiders learn about the huge seizure, making them question who to rely on.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with writer and director Joe Carnahan about his work on ‘The Rip’, bringing the project to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, working with them on set, their characters’ relationship, the supporting cast, building suspense for the twists and turns, the action sequences, working with Netflix, and why he’s not disappointed that the movie isn’t going to be shown in theaters.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Carnahan, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Sasha Calle.
Moviefone: To begin with, I understand that you brought this project yourself to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s company, Artists Equity. Can you talk about that? Also, at a Netflix event last year Affleck told a story about you pitching this project to him as ‘Heat’ meets ‘Training Day’ and his response was, “Kind of like ‘The Town’?” Did that really happen?
Joe Carnahan: That is inaccurate. I don’t know where he got that. No, you know what it was? Matt and Ben and I are all the same age. So, all the films that we loved as kids, ‘Serpico’ and ‘Heat’ and you know, ‘Lethal Weapon’. Like, these types of movies, and I think we wanted to make something like that that was kind of crowd pleasing and in the cop genre, which I love and have had some success with. Someone at Actors Equity got a hold of the script. I had not gone out wide with it. Matt and Ben and I have been friends for many years. The AE executive said, “Let me get it to them”. It got to Matt within 24 hours, and he called me 24 hours later, and then Ben called me. They were like, “What are you thinking for the cast?” I’m like, “What do you mean? Come on, I want you guys.” So, it was just a dream to have guys that were running the studio that could put the wheels in motion here. At the same time, these two are movie stars. They are two guys that grew up together that happened to be movie stars. It doesn’t happen like that. So, it was a joy from start to finish. It really was.
MF: Obviously, Affleck is an accomplished director in his own right, and he and Damon are also Oscar winning screenwriters. What was it like having two veteran actors and experienced filmmakers on your set and working with them to create this movie?
JC: I know. Having them say my lines, these guys who have little gold statues for their writing. It was incredible. Again, they’re both wonderful filmmakers. They understand it. They see it from a 30,000-foot vantage, right? They get what you’re up against. They get what the challenges are, and they get what the obstacles would be. So, I found them to be nothing but lovely and helpful. Especially Ben, who’s coming out of a directorial background. He’s walked the same roads I’ve walked. He’s put in those hours behind a camera. He understands. He’s a world-class filmmaker. He really is. So, to have that level of competency, I could be a fool and still get to the finish line. But they gave me this wonderful grace and room to try things and they were game for stuff. We had a blast, man. We really did.
MF: Can you talk about how their long friendship together and how that really plays into these characters, and was there ever any talk of them flipping roles? Because they both could have easily played the other part.
JC: You know what they asked me, “Who do you want us to play?” I always had in mind that Matt would play Dumars. That is the slightly senior guy. But they absolutely could have gone the other way, which is an interesting role reversal. I’m sure AI will be capable of flipping Matt and Ben’s roles next month. But again, I’m trading on a 40-year plus friendship. The sense of that and the gravitational pull of that is something you could feel when you’re watching them. You know what I mean? You can’t say that about everybody. Not only do they have natural chemistry, but these are two people who love each other. Then once you get in there, now you’re messing with not only that personal history, but you’re messing with who they are as movie stars. You’re messing with their cinematic presence, which is very different. But it was the moving between one and the other, and then sometimes coexisting at the same time, which was fantastic. Again, I think that’s what gives all their scenes this real authentic sense because they do care deeply for each other. Then there are moments where you feel like one of them is betraying the other one, and that lands with that much more presence and weight. So, that was great.
MF: Without giving anything away, the film keeps you guessing the whole time as to who the good guys are and who are the bad guys. Can you talk about creating that suspense and building to the twists and turns?
JC: Yeah, it was a lot of Mike McGrale and I really sitting down and structuring this in the outline stage, which can be tedious and time consuming. But ultimately, it’ll give you the greatest dividends because you’ve really leaned into the technical aspects of screenwriting, which can be tricky. But I think once we did that groundwork, and once the script was done, I wrote it fast. It was like five weeks to write the script. But all of this was rigorously thought out and planned and machined in that outline stage. Then once you knew that it’s like a Rube Goldberg device, like this trip trips that and drops some mouse traps. So, it’s a lot of fun because once you know it’s working on the page, then it just becomes execution on the day. I always say this, it’s like there’s three films. There’s a film you write. There’s a film you shoot and there’s a film you cut, and oftentimes they’re wildly different. This was consistent throughout, I think if anything, it got leaner. We cut down information as we went on because we felt like we understand. I don’t want to pander to the audience. If I feel like we’re condescending, then let’s keep it moving.
MF: Can you talk about executing the action sequences?
JC: I had a second unit director, Scott Rogers, who I just adore, who’s talented and did a lot of work with me and the DP and are a really great group of guys who understood. It’s like, “Here are the boards, here’s what we want, here’s the shots we want, and then anything after that you get, knock yourself out.” Of course, they always give you fantastic stuff on top of that. So, it was a lot of planning. We use this Libra Head, which is this expensive stabilized head for our shots. If we shot sticks or handheld, we’d use the Libra Head. To do that kind percussive seismic thing when the gunfight starts to make you feel like, “Oh, my God.” I wanted to just feel it in your chest. We would destabilize those things. We did what’s called seizure wheels. We just did these kinds of wild shots, but it created this unsettling effect. That’s always what you’re trying to do. You don’t want to feel like you’re treading over the same ground repeatedly and the familiar. You want to mess with it and see what you can do. I think we did some interesting kind of innovative things in that and the action.
MF: We’ve talked about Ben and Matt, but can you talk about putting together the rest of the supporting cast including Teyana Taylor, Steven Yeun, Kyle Chandler, and Scott Adkins?
JC:Sharon Bialy and Sherry Thomas cast us, and they just did a phenomenal job. I think casting is sometimes 90% of your work. Like, who do you put in this movie? Everyone from Catalina Sandino Moreno to Steve, to Scott, to Néstor Carbonell, who I’ve worked with before. I have a history with a lot of these people. Again, you just get these people working at such a high level. Scott Atkins, who’s not seen the film yet, he will see it tonight. I think he’s just going to be blown away because I didn’t require him to blade kick anyone in the head, which is kind of his stock and trade. So, it’s exciting. When you, when you have this collection of talented people and you get good material, it’s hard to screw that up. You’ve got to work extra hard to screw that up.
MF: Finally, what was your experience like working with Netflix and are you disappointed that the film will not have a theatrical release?
JC: You know what? No, because I think what’s happened is, you know, we used to live and die by Friday night and the weekend box office. It’s like, “My movie didn’t work, and it is dead in the water.” I like that we’ve eliminated that undue tension of, “what if I’m not number one?”. I never liked the box office stakes. Unless you win, then you’re happy. But I think that so many homes now have mini theaters. They have very sophisticated televisions that aren’t that expensive. They have very sophisticated sound systems that aren’t that expensive. I know in my house; I’ve got this great room that is all blacked out with bean bags, and that’s where you watch movies. That movie in that room would play just as well as anything else. Like, that communal experience of being in a dark room with strangers and sharing something, that’s never going away. I certainly love it. I don’t ever want theaters to go, and we’re going to see it tonight in theater. So, we get the best of both worlds. I do think it’s strong, but it’s strong regardless. Netflix has been a dream. Honest to God, I can’t say enough good things about those guys. From the marketing to the publicity, they have been top of the top, and just amazing.
A group of Miami cops discovers a stash of millions in cash, leading to distrust as outsiders learn about the huge seizure, making them question who to rely on.
(L to R) Zachary Levi, Terrence Terrell, Quentin Plair and Marshall Cook in ‘Not Without Hope’. Photo: Inaugural Entertainment.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Zachary Levi, Quentin Plair, Terrence Terrell and Marshall Cook about their work on ‘Not Without Hope’, their first reaction to the true story it is based on, their research, creating the friendship between the characters, filming in the water, survivor’s guilt, and working with director Joe Carnahan.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.
Zachary Levi in ‘Not Without Hope’. Photo: Inaugural Entertainment.
MF: To begin with, Zachary, were you aware of the true story that the film is based on and what was your first reaction to the screenplay?
Zachary Levi: So, I was familiar with the story in that I remember it being on the news in 2009, kind of in the background. It was one of the mini stories that’s on the news and I was thinking to myself, “Wow, that is so sad that these guys went out for a fishing trip and three of the four didn’t come back.” I didn’t know any of the details. I don’t even know that the details were available at that time. Then the script came across my desk, and I read it. I mean, honestly, the first thing that hits me, and it hits me watching the movie, is that all these lives were so insanely impacted and lost. Three of these gentleman’s lives lost all over an anchor. As I’m reading the script, I’m like, “Just cut it. Just cut it.” As if somehow, I could bring them back into existence, if I could change what had already happened. But that, also, I think, leads to investing you in the story and seeing how it ultimately plays out, and how they’re able to survive. Ultimately, Nick is rescued at the last second, I believe that the Coast Guard said he was 45 minutes away from dying himself. But that last shred of hope, that against all odds, I will hold on, I will believe that something will change in this course of events, and it did. I’m grateful that he lived to write the book, and for us to go make this movie, for us to honor Marquis, Corey and Will because they’re not here. So, I think all of that affected me as I was reading the script and, ultimately, wanted me to sign on.
(L to R) Quentin Plair, errence Terrell, Zachary Levi and Marshall Cook in ‘Not Without Hope’. Photo: Inaugural Entertainment.
MF: Quentin, can you talk about the friendship that these four men had together and what it was like for you creating that on screen with your fellow actors?
Quentin Plair: Well, Marshall and I live very close to each other. So, we were in the same gym and this guy just walks up to me and he’s like, “Hey, are you Quentin Plair?” I’m like, “Yeah, who are you?” He’s like, “Hey, I shouldn’t say this, but I just got this ‘Not Without Hope’ and I know you got it as well.” I was like, “Oh man, that’s awesome.” So, during the prep process, I think that was probably maybe two months or so before we were going to film. The two of us exchanged information, and we pushed each other because we were swimming and working out in preparation for it. Then we get out there and the way that we did the shooting, we did the water stuff before we did the out of the water stuff. So, all of us were just going through this thing together. To be a survival movie, it’s an intimate look at it. It’s a up close and personal look at it. You kind of feel like you’re out there with us. There were so many times, where Zach had to literally pull me onto the boat, pull me through the water, lift me up himself, hold me, and cradle me in his arms. I’m dead weight at that point because I’m being overtaken by hypothermia. What I call my last present moments are just his eyes looking down at me, my eyes looking back at him, and just having this intense, organic, genuine connection through all these tough external things, the water, the wind machines, the rain, the cold of the water, the waves, and just the relentless night after night of these night shoots. Then we get on land and it’s kind of like, we just get to have fun. We just get to have this connection. We get to joke around, and we get to laugh. That felt like such a relief that like, “Oh, no, we don’t have to go through this pain”. We’re on a regular sleep cycle. We’re on all these things, and we had built such a bond through going through that, that once we got to those scenes, I think it was just palpable. People that watched it, I think, saw that and I saw it myself and it just really all worked out.
(L to R) Zachary Levi and Marshall Cook in ‘Not Without Hope’. Photo: Inaugural Entertainment.
MF: Marshall, can you talk about the challenges of shooting in water and acting in those harsh conditions?
Marshall Cook: Well, there’s two different ways of looking at it. I mean, the one challenge is, obviously, you can’t really plan anything because you’re just constantly off balance. I mean, it was hard to just stay on the boat. There’s a lot that you don’t expect that Joe is doing behind the scenes. He’s queuing water cannons to go off when you’re not expecting them and there’s just a lot of chaos. So, there’s no real rhythm and you must do more reacting, which is the other way of looking at it is that you can just kind of be, and it requires less acting sometimes. So, I think not overthinking it and just saying, “Am I this person in this scenario? Is that convincing to the audience?” You can just kind of let go, and there’s certain beats and things you must do in a scene, but you get away from overthinking or pre-planning. I mean, to me, I think it was a gift. I think the biggest challenge was just navigating the cold.
Director Joe Carnahan on the set of ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Terrence, what was your experience like working with director Joe Carnahan on this project?
Terrence Terrell: Joe has so much energy and so many surprises. He’ll say the tank’s going to go off just twice, and it went off 15 times just to get you. Then the other cool thing about it was freezing in that water. I remember a couple of times; Joe went in the water with us. So, he was on the side with no wetsuit on or anything, with the camera and in the water with us. So, that was cool to let us know that not only was he directing us in this chaos, but he also didn’t mind jumping in the chaos with us. So, I love Joe. He’s so cool.
Zachary Levi in ‘Not Without Hope’. Photo: Inaugural Entertainment.
MF: Finally, Zachary, can you talk about the research you did for this role and how it helped inform your performance? Also, did Nick have “survivor’s guilt” and how did he overcome that?
ZL: I mean, I talked to Nick quite a few times just trying to get into his head and understand his journey through all of this. As you can imagine, it was quite a traumatic experience. With trauma, a lot of memory can get repressed. But I know that Nick is a strong man, and he continues to live his life. It’s like when Tom Hanks looks at Matt Damon in ‘Saving Private Ryan’. He says, “Earn it.” Because all these guys, this whole platoon, basically, lost their lives for you to go and be with your family and live a life beyond this. I think that Nick really does step up to live his life to be an honorable man and to honor these friends of his that were lost. Survivor’s guilt is real. We nod at that in the end of the film. Nick’s still having these images of his friends and their experience together. I think we try to layer as much of that in there without being too heavy-handed. I mean, there’s so much that you could unpack in all of it psychologically. But I think Joe did a really good job of telling the story that needed to be told, honoring the gentlemen in that story, and that’s what we’ve got. That’s what’s on the screen.
‘Not Without Hope’ opens in theaters on December 12th.
What is the plot of ‘Not Without Hope’?
A group of friends’ fishing boat capsizes off the coast of Mexico and they’re left alone stranded at sea and struggling for survival.
Director Joe Carnahan on the set of ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director and co-writer Joe Carnahan about his work on ‘Shadow Force’, developing the screenplay with co-writer Leon Chills, shooting the bank action sequence, Kyrah and Isaac’s relationship, working with Kerry Washington and Omar Sy, if Method Man’s Wu-Tang Clan reference was an improv, and the importance of Lionel Richie’s music to the film, as well as discussing his adaptation of ‘The A-Team’ and why Jon Hamm took an uncredited role.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Washington, Sy, director Joe Carnahan, and screenwriter Leon Chills.
Director Joe Carnahan talks ‘Shadow Force’.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about working with screenwriter Leon Chills and what were some of the elements that you wanted to add to his script?
Joe Carnahan: I think Leon had written such an interesting script. I think my perspective on it was to make it more about the nuclear family or this idea of these two people having to make this gut-wrenching choice of like, “Listen, I’m going to go out into the world and make sure that no one attacks you. You’re going to raise our son.” I think that in and of itself kind of opened the gates for all this wonderful drama and this interpersonal stuff with Omar and Kerry’s characters, and the tension and this forlorn notion of lost love or forsaken love or what have you, and then this event forcing them back together. I think that became the centrifuge, the family aspect of it that I think I brought to it. I think, again, a lot of these movies where they succeed when they’re good, it’s a very binary kind of emotional connections that the audience has developed because I think if they care deeply then they’re in. I still haven’t seen an elaborate visual effect that could beat it. There’s a moment where Kerry’s reunited with her son, and he has an action figure that looks like her. I remember looking around the test screening and everyone’s crying. I think once those things start happening and then you start to imperil and endanger those characters, there’s that much more of the buy-in and there’s that much more of the emotional investment from the audience. I think it’s not difficult to do, but it takes time to figure out how to hit those little keys and those little notes.
MF: Can you talk about shooting the action scenes, particularly the bank sequence?
JC: I thought, wouldn’t it be interesting if you shot the bank robbery from the point of view of the child, which is he can’t see any of this, so his dad’s telling him, “Close your eyes and cover your ears.” I just thought I’d never seen that. Listen, I’m not that smart. But I’ll think to myself oftentimes, “Have I seen it? No.” Sometimes that’s worth doing all by itself. If it’s a familiar thing, which is a bank robbery in a movie, audiences have seen tons of those. It’s how you execute it, and the fact that it stuck out to you. If I had shot it in a very traditional way, it may have not had the same impact, but because it’s from his point of view, it’s interesting. I think, I’m a father. I’ve got four kids; I’ve got two 10-year-old girls. I wouldn’t want them to see their father being violent, I’d want to shield them from that. So, I thought it was very cool the way we did that. It reminds you there’s this little kid in there. It’s tricky because the studio could have said, “It’s too much. You can’t put a kid in the middle of that,” but I thought the way we did it, we just were able to thread that needle. So, I was very happy with the way that came out.
(L to R) Omar Sy as Isaac and Kerry Washington as Kyrah in ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Can you talk about the relationship between Kyrah and Isaac, the threat against them and what they are willing to do to protect their child?
JC: Well, listen, it’s that we always say, “I’d go to the ends of the earth for my kid,” or “I’d do anything for my child.” Then the idea that you would have to physically separate to be safe, to ensure that there’s this kind of huntress out there, which is Kerry’s character, which is kind of a non-traditional way of doing it. Like Omar being the maternal figure, raising their son, I thought was intriguing. Because we have this whole society where it’s like, how could you do that? Her character says that. “Why will it work? Because no one would believe I’d walk away from my son.” That’s why it’ll work. To me that’s gut-wrenching. I think Kerry’s so lovely in delivering that sentiment because she’s a mom and she knows what that means. So, it puts a lump in your throat because it’s coming from her, the part of her that’s a wonderful actor. Then there’s that part of her that’s a mom and that infusion is lovely in a tugging your heartstrings kind of way. But I just thought it was an unusual way to set that whole thing up.
MF: What was it like directing Kerry Washington and Omar Sy on set?
JC: I mean, listen, they’re both just angels. They’re both just wonderful. Omar is possessed of just this innate decency and kindness as a man. Then, I was in Paris after we wrapped and Omar came to have dinner with me and my girls at Beef Bar in Paris, and you want to see what fame looks like? I told my girls, “Watch this restaurant when Omar walks in.” It was crazier than anything I’d ever seen. So, you got this, and you see him in ‘Lupin’ and then you have Kerry, they both have such generosity of spirit and instant chemistry with one another. Also, I think this really abiding respect from one another and their craft as actors. I think once you get that you have this mutual admiration society as they had, it’s very easy to do your job, at least it was for me.
(L to R) Cliff “Method Man” Smith as Unc and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Auntie in ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: In the film, Method Man’s character references the Wu-Tang Clan, was that line improvised?
JC: It was not. I decided I was going to have him say it and ask the kid if he likes Wu-Tang. Then I told Jahleel (Kamara) to say that line and if you see the film Method Man’s reaction is his actual reaction to hearing Jahleel say it. He just froze. It was great. What I love about Cliff is that meta part of it, his understanding of like, “Okay, I’m going to wink, wink, nudge, nudge the audience and go, ‘We’re talking about me.’” But he was not so precious about that. He was just lovely about it. It was great.
MF: Can you talk about the importance of Lionel Richie’s music to this film and how you chose the right songs to use?
JC: I mean, that’s my junior high slow dance song with Kelly Hines at Shepherd Elementary School in 1980. I’m such a Commodores and Lionel Richie fan. I just loved the idea that this little kid would be a Lionel Richie fanatic and a Commodores fanatic because I was as a kid. My mom had all those albums. You can’t find anybody that doesn’t love Lionel Richie, you know what I mean? It’s like you forget how great that band was, and that guy was. I just thought that was truly great, and the scene in the car where he knows all the lyrics and you realize it’s like that’s the wedding song. You’re playing our wedding song, which I just thought was great and kind of the way that gets set up and paid off I thought was lovely.
Jon Hamm in ‘The A-Team’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
MF: Finally, I’m a fan of your version of ‘The A-Team’ but I’ve always wanted to ask you, why did Jon Hamm make an appearance at the end of the movie? Were you setting him up to be the villain in a possible sequel?
JC: Yes, that’s exactly it, Jami. He was going to be the Lynch character in the sequel. That is why Jon Hamm is in ‘The A-Team’. I’ll tell you this quick, the head of Fox Marketing at the time, who shall remain unnamed, because got destroyed by ‘The Karate Kid’ remake. Three weeks after the film opens, he sees me in the Fox commissary and he gives me a big hug and says, “I screwed up.” But if I had a nickel for everybody that said, “I love that movie. When are you going to do a sequel, can you do a sequel?” Not now. They could never afford Liam (Neeson) and they certainly couldn’t afford Bradley (Cooper), but it was fun to make. I had a blast making it, man. It was great. I mean, Jon’s so lovely and so unassuming and so great. It would’ve been nice to be able to go take that into the next movie, but alas, who knows. You never know, man. With sequels, sometimes years pass and then everybody wants another one.
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What is the plot of ‘Shadow Force’?
Kyrah (Kerry Washington) and Isaac (Omar Sy) were once the leaders of a multinational special forces group called Shadow Force, but broke the rules by falling in love, and they go underground to protect their son (Jaheel Kamara) with the rest of the Shadow Force hot on their trail.
Kerry Washington as Kyrah in ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Juan Pablo Gutierrez.
Pulling inspiration from ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ and the Roger Moore era James Bond movies, ‘Shadow Force’ is an entertaining enough action movie but struggles with cliché villains and a complicated third act that will leave viewers slightly puzzled.
Director Joe Carnahan has crafted some unique action sequences that are really the highlight of the movie, while Kerry Washington and Omar Sy give strong performances that help to try and create the heart of the film. But in the end the film fails to establish a cohesive story and the action, and the lead performances are not enough to overcome the script’s shortcomings.
Story and Direction
Director Joe Carnahan on the set of ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
The movie begins by introducing us to Isaac Sarr (Sy), a former member of s special forces group called Shadow Force, raising his young son Ky (Jahleel Kamara) in hiding. Ky’s mother, Kyrah Owens (Washington) is also a former member of Shadow Force, and the two broke ties with the group after they fell in love and she became pregnant with Ky, which was forbidden by the group’s leader, Jack Cinder (Strong). Kyrah has since gone underground to protect Isaac and Ky, so that she can confuse Cinder and keep her family safe.
Trouble begins when Isaac, who has hearing loss, protects Ky during an unexpected bank robbery, and Cinder becomes aware of their location, sending the remaining members of Shadow Force to eliminate Isaac and Ky. This leads Kyrah no choice but to step out of the shadows and return to protect her family, reuniting for the first time with Ky since he was born.
Meanwhile, Isaac and Kyrah’s former colleagues Auntie Clanter ( Randolph) and Marcus “Unc” Owens (Smith) are also on their trail, but do they want to help Kyrah and her family, or are they working for Cinder? What follows is a cat and mouse game that ends in a showdown between Kyrah and Cinder where all the characters’ true intentions are revealed.
(L to R) Natalia Reyes as Moriti, Mark Strong as Cinder and Sala Baker as Scath in ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
With films like ‘Smokin’ Aces’, ‘The Grey’, ‘The A-Team’, and ‘Boss Level’ under his belt, Joe Carnahan has established himself as one of the best action directors working today, but except for ‘Smokin’ Aces’, Carnahan’s films usually fall apart in the third act and only feature flashy characters and great action sequences. Unfortunately, ‘Shadow Force’ is no different.
However, the movie is worth seeing for the director’s unique take on a bank robbery, as well as a chase sequence involving massive trucks, and the film’s final set piece, a very impressive boat chase. Co-written by Carnahan and screenwriter Leon Chills, you can tell that Chills original script was more of a character-driven story and that Carnahan’s contributions included the action sequences and the supporting characters and villains, that are not as fleshed out as much as the two main characters.
While it would have been a completely different movie, it would have been interesting to see Chills’ original screenplay produced, which would have focused more on the relationship between Kyrah and Isaac, and less of the convoluted spy thriller plot and the generic villains. Although Carnahan’s chaotic shooting style lends itself well to some of his past films, it does become a burden here, but his choice to tie the movie’s music, several beloved Lionel Richie songs, to the core plot works surprisingly well.
Cast and Performances
(L to R) Kerry Washington as Kyrah and Jahleel Kamera as Ky in ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
With the film drawing so heavily from ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’, it’s interesting to note that Kerry Washington was in that movie, but except for that, has not had a chance to do a lot of action in the past. Much like watching Viola Davis fight terrorists in the recent ‘Die Hard’ inspired ‘G20’, it was refreshing to see an actress of Washington’s caliber take on a role like this. But while she is strong in the action sequences, it’s the scenes when she’s with Sy, and especially reuniting with her son, where Washington shines the most.
While American audiences might not be as familiar with Omar Sy’s work as European audiences are thanks to the French series ‘Lupin’, he did excel in last year’s action movie ‘The Killer’, which was directed by the legendary John Woo. Sy is again great here, especially in the action sequences and has a very strong presence on screen. I also loved the way his character’s hearing loss is treated like a superpower (Not unlike Marvel’s Daredevil character who is name dropped in the film) and not a disability.
(L to R) Cliff “Method Man” Smith as Unc and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Auntie in ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Cliff “Method Man” Smith add a good amount of humor to the film, but their characters are not given a lot to do, and the guessing game of their true intentions becomes trying by the film’s end. But Smith does have a funny moment with Jahlell Kamara, when Ky references the Wu-Tang Clan and Method Man breaks the fourth wall (He is a founding member of the seminal hip hop group in real life) after hearing the comment.
But the weak point of the movie is by far Mark Strong’s performance, as well as the rest of the very forgettable Shadow Force members. Strong, who is typically a very good actor, is clearly phoning this performance in for a paycheck and it shows. To be fair, the character is underwritten to begin with, but Strong does nothing to elevate Cinder from a typical mustache-twirling Bond villain.
Final Thoughts
Omar Sy as Isaac in ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
‘Shadow Force’ is a flawed but still fun movie with some great action sequences and good performances from Washington and Sy but falls flat by the end. Carnahan’s vibey direction, the incredible set pieces, the Lionel Richie music and the main characters’ love story is not enough to make this a “rush out to the theaters to see it” movie. But I think it does have enough excitement to hold your attention on a Saturday afternoon once it is available to stream.
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What is the plot of ‘Shadow Force’?
Kyrah (Kerry Washington) and Isaac (Omar Sy) were once the leaders of a multinational special forces group called Shadow Force, but broke the rules by falling in love, and they go underground to protect their son (Jaheel Kamara) with the rest of the Shadow Force hot on their trail.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kerry Washington and Omar Sy about their work on ‘Shadow Force’, what audiences should expect from the movie, how Sy’s characters disability is really his superpower, what Washington’s character is willing to do to protect her family, shooting the incredible action sequences, and working with director Joe Carnahan.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Washington, Sy, director Joe Carnahan, and screenwriter Leon Chills.
Kerry Washington as Kyrah in ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Juan Pablo Gutierrez.
Moviefone: To begin with, Kerry, as both an actress and a producer, what would you say to moviegoers sitting down right now in a theater to see this film, to prepare them for the action-packed theatrical experience they’re about to have?
Kerry Washington: I would say this film is so exciting because it is a big splashy action drama, but at its center, at the heart of the film, is this family story. It’s about love, it’s about sacrifice, and it’s about doing whatever it takes to protect the people you love the most. So, it really is a beautifully balanced film and a great film to see with the people you love most.
Omar Sy stars in ‘Shadow Force’.
MF: Omar, your character has hearing loss, but he considers his disability to be a superpower, can you talk about that and your approach to playing Isaac?
Omar Sy: I love that. I love that because I’m always saying that these movies, it has so many things to say about the family, about that, and even about people. To give that message that sometimes we have our specificities, we have something that we have, it’s our own, and even a disability can sometimes help you to work somewhere else and be stronger somewhere else. So, it is his superpower, like he’s described, not hearing gives him more focus on other things. They can feel more, so I like the idea, and then the thing for me was to approach that, it was a slow-mo. I was just breathing a lot and feel like everything. Like he says, everything slows down when you don’t hear. You can have your own rhythm and then you connect to Bruce Lee. He says, “It’s smooth. Smooth is fast.” So, you slow down and you’re going to get speed, so I was a little bit Bruce Lee in my head.
(L to R) Kerry Washington as Kyrah and Jahleel Kamera as Ky in ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Kerry, can you talk about Kyrah and Isaac’s relationship, the threat against them and what she’s willing to do to protect her family and her child?
KW: I really liked the relationship between Isaac and Kyrah because they’re obviously estranged lovers and they’re dealing with that estrangement, with what it means to be separated and to have been apart. There’s a lot of misunderstanding between them, so the fight scenes between Omar and I were fun because it was like a couple trying to figure each other out. The fight scene was like a dialogue, and we were remembering each other’s fight styles, just remembering each other’s hearts, so it was fun to think about how a couple who are both killers, how they love each other and how they communicate.
Omar Sy as Isaac in ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Omar, can you talk about preparing for the action sequences and which scene was the most challenging for you to execute?
OS: Well, the boat (scene) because it was the end of the shooting. It was moving a lot and that was more exciting, but also, I think the most difficult because the balance is different. On the ground you know exactly what you do. On the boat, it’s also the boat moving, and you must find your balance on that. That was a little bit different and more challenging, but it was also the most exciting.
Director Joe Carnahan on the set of ‘Shadow Force’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Finally, Kerry, can you talk about shooting the action sequences and what was your experience like working with director Joe Carnahan?
KW: Well, it was fun. If you’re going to do badass action sequences, you want to be with a guy like Joe who is living it. Every take he’s screaming louder than we are. He’s just so into it, so passionate, and he loves it. For me, you want to work with somebody who’s most passionate about the area that you’re working in, and so I think he really pushed both of us, our stunt team, everybody, to really go beyond our comfort zone to try to find some extra magic.
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What is the plot of ‘Shadow Force’?
Kyrah (Kerry Washington) and Isaac (Omar Sy) were once the leaders of a multinational special forces group called Shadow Force, but broke the rules by falling in love, and they go underground to protect their son (Jaheel Kamara) with the rest of the Shadow Force hot on their trail.
Ben Affleck at Netflix’s Next on Netflix event. Photo: Netflix.
Preview:
Ben Affleck is stepping in to star in kidnapping thriller ‘Animals’.
Matt Damon was previously the lead.
Gillian Anderson has joined the cast.
Last year, we brought you the news that longtime friends and collaborators Ben Affleck and Matt Damon –– who have been movie stars together since they co-wrote and starred in the Oscar-winning ‘Good Will Hunting’ way back in 1997 –– were looking to make their latest team-up with a new thriller called ‘Animals.’
It was to have followed 2023’s ‘Air,’ which Affleck directed and had a supporting role in to Damon’s lead. And also the upcoming ‘RIP,’ from director Joe Carnahan (more on that below).
But then, pesky schedule changes got in the way of their fun.
See, while they were aiming to shoot last year, but there was a hold up with the rights and that put the brakes on production. Then, Affleck had to go and reprise his role as Christian Wolff in Gavin O’Connor’s sequel to 2016 hitman thriller ‘The Accountant’ (that one will be out this year).
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Fast-forward to this year and now it’s Damon who has the scheduling clash, as he’s about to start work on Christopher Nolan’s new movie ‘The Odyssey’ along with half of Hollywood. Which means he can no longer star in ‘Animals.’
Affleck has, therefore, had to hunt around for someone to star and who does he think he can get along with just as well as Damon? Turns out it’s a hungry young newcomer named… (checks notes)… Ben Affleck?
Yes, to get the movie made, Affleck is stepping in to star as well as direct. It’s not like he hasn’t done that in the past ––he pulled that particular trick off for movies such as ‘The Town,’ ‘Argo,’ and ‘Live by Night,’ and they all came off well.
In related ‘Animals’ news, Deadline (who broke word of Affleck stepping in to star) reports that Gillian Anderson is joining the cast.
Ben Affleck as Christian Wolff in ‘The Accountant.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
So far, the plot details are being kept quiet on this one, though the kidnapping thriller has a script that began life with Connor McIntyre and has since seen revisions from ‘Captain Phillips’ and ‘Richard Jewel’ writer Billy Ray.
And Damon is still aboard to produce the movie –– as he did with ‘Air’ –– through the Artists Equity company he formed with Affleck.
Yet unlike ‘Air’, this movie won’t arrive via Amazon. Instead, Netflix has jumped aboard to finance and distribute the film, though it remains to be seen whether it’ll go the theatrical route or will land in Netflix’s streaming service.
As for Affleck, that’s easy to answer –– it’s this, if everything comes together. He also has ‘The Accountant 2’ awaiting release and will be seen alongside Damon in the aforementioned ‘RIP.’
The Carnahan thriller is set in Miami, where the murder of a captain has remained unsolved for six weeks, mired in bureaucratic delays, leaving the officers of the city’s Tactical Narcotics Team restless and eager for justice.
Seeking an outlet for their frustration and perhaps a chance to secure something for themselves the team acts on a tip about a potential cartel stash. What they uncover is far more than they anticipated. Inside a derelict stash house, they discover millions in cash, and with it, the fragile bonds of trust within the team begin to unravel.
As news of the massive seizure spreads, outside forces close in, and everything comes into question-loyalties, motives, and even who they can truly trust…
Carnahan wrote and directed this one, but it doesn’t have a locked release date yet.
Beyond that, Damon has ‘The Odyssey’ dominating his schedule for the coming few months as an actor, but there is a hefty batch of projects to which he’s attached as a producer, including sports drama ‘Flash Before the Bang’ and drama ‘Apostle Paul.’
What else is Gillian Anderson working on?
Gillian Anderson as Vivienne in ‘White Bird’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
Anderson might still be best known for starring in cult TV series ‘The X-Files,’ but more recently received acclaimed for her role as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Netflix series ‘The Crown.’
Also for the company, she appeared in all four seasons of ‘Sex Education’ and last year played journalist Emily Maitlis in ‘Scoop,’ the drama about her memorable interview with Prince Andrew.
Coming up, she worked on Western TV drama ‘The Abandons,’ which will hit Netflix later this year.
And finally, on the movie front, she has a role in ‘Tron: Ares,’ the second sequel to the 1982 sci-fi thriller.
When will ‘Animals’ be in theaters?
‘Animals,’ since it has yet to shoot, doesn’t have a release date. And since it’s backed by Netflix, there’s a chance that it won’t ever see the inside of a cinema, instead debuting on the streaming service’s servers.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are aboard a new crime thriller.
Joe Carnahan will direct the movie, titled ‘RIP’.
The project is seeking a distributor.
It’s not quite such an event these days for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to work together; after all, their most recent shared effort, ‘Air’ (starring Damon, which Affleck directed and co-starred in), was only released last year.
They had been considering working together again –– on kidnap thriller ‘Animals’, which we reported on here –– but schedules couldn’t be worked out following shooting changes for Affleck on the ‘Accountant’ sequel.
Now, however, they have found their next joint gig, a crime thriller called ‘RIP’.
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What’s the story of ‘RIP’?
(L to R) Ben Affleck and Matt Damon on HBO’s ‘Project Greenlight.’
According to Deadline, the plot details beyond that basic genre description, are being kept quiet.
The title doesn’t exactly promise sunshine and kittens, and we do know that the movie’s concept was dreamt up by director Joe Carnahan along with Mike McGrale, and Carnahan is looking to start calling the shots in the fall.
Affleck and Damon’s Artists Equity will produce. Carnahan, of course, has a solid history with crime films, having made the likes of ‘Narc’ and ‘Smokin’ Aces’ (in which Affleck had a role).
‘RIP’ is currently without a distributor, but given the star power and director, we’d expect this one to be snapped up quickly. Netflix may pivot from working on ‘Animals’, or Amazon MGM may well step up.
Ben Affleck as Christian Wolff in ‘The Accountant.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
As mentioned earlier, Affleck has reprised the character of Christian Wolff for a sequel to Gavin O’Connor’s 2016 action thriller ‘The Accountant’, which is in post-production now.
Damon has Apple’s ‘The Instigators’ on the way (which he’s starring in, and producing alongside Affleck), and that will land on Apple TV+ on August 9th, with Doug Liman in the director’s chair.
He’s also a producer (without Artists Equity this time) on Netflix comedy series ‘Green Beret’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse’.
Beyond those upcoming acting/producing gigs, the pair’s company is also backing projects such as an updated ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ and sports drama ‘Unstoppable’.
(L to R) Ben Affleck and Matt Damon win Best Original Screenplay for ‘Good Will Hunting’ during the 70th Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium. Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images.
Other Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Movies and TV Shows:
Things have changed since then, however, as Deadline report that, while the film remains set up at the studio, only Washington is still attached from that original list.
Joe Carnahan, who wrote the movie with the superbly named Leon Chills, is stepping up to direct it.
‘Shadow Force’ follows an estranged couple with a bounty on their heads who must go on the run with their son to avoid their former employer, a shadow ops unit that has been sent to kill them.
Omar Sy, known for ‘Jurassic World’ and Netflix’s crime drama ‘Lupin’ is on board to star opposite Washington. Brown, though he’s no longer in the cast, is still a producer via his Indian Meadows Productions company.
Omar Sy in 2016’s ‘Inferno.’
“Omar is at the top of his powers – combined with his global stardom, he’s ideally suited to co-lead this action-drama with Kerry, whose talent as an actress and a producer is unbounded,” says Lionsgate Motion Picture Group President Nathan Kahane. “We’re thrilled to be working with the production team of Stephen, Kerry, Sterling, and Pilar, who have shepherded this story of a family in peril from the beginning, and with Joe, who will bring a unique, visceral style to the film.”
Carnahan, of course, has made a trademark of frenzied action movies, and most recently brought ‘Copshop’ and ‘Boss Level’ to the screen, both of which starred his regular collaborator Frank Grillo. Could that mean we’ll see Grillo pop up in ‘Shadow Force’ as part of the former employer-turned-threat? Don’t count out the idea.
Sy will be back on our screens this summer reprising his role as Barry Sembène in ‘Jurassic World Dominion’, which stomps in on June 10th and sees the original ‘Jurassic’ trio of Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum reunited onscreen for more dino-chaos. And while there’s no set date, there should be another season of ‘Lupin’ on the way, which has proved to be one of the most entertaining series on Netflix’s roster.
With luck, ‘Shadow Force’ will actually kick off shooting this year, though we must admit we’re a little sorry to see Mahoney drop out of directing. Still, if Carnahan brings his visual zip and anarchic sentiments to the movie, it could be something really fun, and very different for Washington in particular.
We never thought it’d happen … but “Bad Boys for Life,” the third film in the over-the-top action franchise starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, is finally coming out. And you know how we know? Because there’s an official trailer to prove it!
The third “Bad Boys” feature has been caught in a cycle of false starts and dead ends, with development officially beginning more than 10 years ago in August 2009 when the first screenwriter was hired to write the script. In the course of those ten years, at least two directors have dropped out (franchise mastermind Michael Bay, who was too expensive, and Joe Carnahan, who clashed with star Will Smith but still retains a screenwriting credit) and countless iterations of the script commissioned. Filming finally took place this year, from January to June, under the direction of Belgian filmmaking team Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and leadership of franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
And honestly … the trailer looks pretty great. It’s got all the hallmarks of the franchise (explosions, macho posturing, F-bombs) in a less expansive Michael Bay-sized package. In other words: we’re in!
“Bad Boys for Life” hits theaters (yes actually) on January 17, 2020.
