MOVIE OF THE WEEK (2/24/23): COCAINE BEAR

"This is what happens when you party in the woods in the 1980s!" The titular character lets loose with a little bit of snowfall in a scene from Elizabeth Banks' inspired by true events dark comedy/horror COCAINE BEAR. Credit: © 2023 Universal Pictures. All rights reserved.

 WATCH THE TRAILER HERE: 

 

 

DIRECTOR: Elizabeth Banks

KEY CAST MEMBERS: Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson, Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Kristofer Hivju, Hannah Hoekstra, Leo Hanna, J.B. Moore, Aaron Holliday, Ayoola Smart, Kahyun Kim, Margo Martindale and the late Ray Liotta

WEB SITE: https://www.cocainebear.movie/

THE BACK STORY: Inspired by true events – but definitely taking them to previously unforeseen highs (pun intended) – Cocaine Bear takes place in 1985 in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Why? Because that's where a drug dealer (and millions of dollars of pure, uncut cocaine) crash landed. That's a problem for Daveed (O'Shea Jackson, Jr.) and Syd (Ray Liotta), a pair of southern drug dealers who cannot afford to upset their Latin American connections by letting all those drugs go missing. That prompts Syd to order Daveed to find Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) – a.k.a. Daveed's trying to-go-straight partner and Syd's son – to leave St. Louis and head towards Chattachoochee. 

Syd, Eddie and Daveed won't be alone in their hunt, however, for the forest happens to be roaming with colorful characters on this particular day. There's Olaf (Kristopher Hivju) and Elsa (Hannah Hoekstra), an engaged couple hiking their way through the forest, animal specialist Peter (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Liz (Margo Martindale) the park ranger who fancies him and the teenage gang of the ponytail (Leo Hanna), the guy in the vest (J.B. Moore) and their leader (Aaron Holiday).

Also in the woods are thirteen year-old duo Dee Dee (Brooklyn Prince) and Henry (Christian Convery), who are about to learn that skipping school was the worst decision they could have made that day. Why? Not just because Dee Dee's mom Sari (Keri Russell) is going to be very upset with them, but because a black bear has just found massive amounts of cocaine. 

If you can't imagine what's going to happen next, you should probably look at the title of this movie again and get prepared for a journey unlike anything else you may see in 2023 ... Or ever again. 

THE REVIEW: In an era full of sequels, re-treads, dystopian futures and superheroes, Cocaine Bear carves out a niche for itself by delivering EXACTLY what its title promises: A 500-pound apex predator coked out of its mind running crazy in the middle of a forest causing hilarious – and at times, gory – chaos. 

The bear is obviously the star attraction; what makes director Elizabeth Banks' film entertaining and not an erratic mess, however, is the work of all the humans around it. The story is easy to follow, the actors deliver solid performances by playing things straight and Banks' pacing keeps things snapping along so that nothing drags except the victims once the star sinks her claws in them. The laughs happen naturally, the shock moments are effective and not gory for the sake of being gory and the characters are likable enough and more developed than one would expect going in to the film.

Make no mistake, however: Cocaine Bear isn't trying to be an Academy Award-winning film by any stretch of the imagination. However, it takes a wild concept and makes it an entertaining one from start to finish. Prince and Convery are great young stars to carry the film, Russell is completely believable and Martindale is a hoot as the park ranger. (If only Whitlock, Jr. had found a to work in his trademark catchphrase from The Wire, everything would be complete.) 

While the world doesn't need a sequel, it definitely can have a great time partying down with Cocaine Bear – just make sure the only snorting you're doing is from laughing and everything should work out just fine.

OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):