Why The Rip Is Dedicated To Jake William Casiano: Real-Life Inspiration Explained

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Joe Carnahan’s new film, The Rip, now streaming on Netflix, reunites longtime friends and colleagues Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. It’s their second movie together produced by their company, Artists Equity, which they launched in 2022. However, The Rip is quite different from their previous project, Air, a comedy-drama about the making of the Air Jordan shoe. This time, Damon and Affleck play Miami police officers whose bond is strained when they discover a cartel hideout filled with over $20 million in cash.

While the movie The Rip is mostly made up, it’s based on a real event. In 2016, Miami police found about $24 million in cash during a raid, making it the largest cash seizure in the city’s history, as reported by the Miami Herald. Because of this real-life event, many viewers have wondered if the film’s dedication to Jake William Casiano is connected to the actual case – and it is. However, not all the details in the movie come directly from the real events.

Jake William Casiano’s Connection To The Rip, Explained

The idea for the movie The Rip came about while working on Bad Boys for Life in 2020. Screenwriter Richard Wenk teamed up with Chris Casiano, a Miami police officer and former tactical narcotics supervisor who also served as a technical advisor on the film. Casiano told Wenk about a real-life, $24 million theft, and they both saw the potential for a compelling movie based on the story.

Chris Casiano once again served as a technical advisor on The Rip, and his experiences inspired the character of Lieutenant Dane Dumars. Like Dumars, who is dealing with the death of his son, Jake, in addition to a recent tragedy and the pressures of the case, Casiano also lost a son named Jake. Sadly, Jake William Casiano passed away from leukemia in 2021 at the age of 11.

In a recent interview with GoldDerby, director Carnahan discussed the hard work that went into making The Rip and explained why they chose to include Jake’s story in the movie.

It’s a delicate situation – you have to approach a friend and explain that you don’t want to dishonor their loved one or profit from their memory. The idea is to find a way to channel the grief and sadness into something positive, like a lasting tribute to celebrate Jake’s life, however brief it was. Thankfully, Chris agreed, and I’m grateful for his understanding.

I showed him the movie about a month ago while we were in Miami, and it really moved us – we both cried a lot. It was a very emotional and powerful experience. I specifically wanted ‘Jake’ to be the first name you saw, to emphasize that the story is about a real person with feelings.

The movie heavily relies on the emotional weight of Jake’s death from cancer, which happened before the story begins. This loss explains why the Lieutenant acts so strangely at the stash house and provides a powerful emotional release towards the end of The Rip, especially after Dumars’ loyalty is confirmed. The filmmakers clearly valued having Jake Casiano involved, and his impact was felt throughout the production, both as an actor and as a presence.

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2026-01-16 19:48