Cocaine Bear
Addiction is a bear in this action comedy
Cokey the Bear is the undisputed star of director Elizabeth Banks' action comedy Cocaine Bear.
In 1985, a plane loaded with duffel bags of cocaine is going down. The dealer aboard decides the best plan is to chuck the bags out of the plane and retrieve them later instead of letting law enforcement find them burning at the crash site.
The bags land in Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Park, where a bear finds that nose candy is way more fun than foraging. High off her fur and desperately in need of another fix, the bear tears through the park mauling anything in her path on her quest for more cocaine.
This is bad news for Eddie and Daveed (Alden Ehrenreich and O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who are sent to the park by drug runner Syd (Ray Liotta) to recoup the bags. But they aren’t the only ones imperiled by the booger sugar bear: Mom Sari (Keri Russell) must fight off the fiending critter as she tries to save two kids lost in the woods and Park ranger Liz (Margo Martindale) is also not prepared to deal with a bear on a bender.
As the bear snorts through kilo after kilo, her rage intensifies. Can anything stop her? Is there even a rehab that accepts bears?
Based on a true story (in that a bear once ate cocaine in the 80s and promptly expired without chasing down an ambulance or menacing a single child), Cocaine Bear is exactly the type of movie you think it would be — raucously funny, exceptionally gory, and overall a great time at the movies. Look, the movie is called Cocaine Bear, if you go into it expecting a parlor drama, that’s kinda on you. This is the type of film that thrives in a crowded environment. You want to shovel popcorn into your mouth as people shriek, laugh, or yell advice to the characters. If you feel safe, get a ticket to a crowded Friday or Saturday show, the crowd’s energy will only bolster the viewing experience.
Director Elizabeth Banks knows exactly what’s expected of a movie with such an out-there premise, and she is ready to meet the challenge. She weaves several storylines together, never losing sight of the fact that the audience is here for bear antics. Still, she manages to eek some real pathos and thrills from her human cast before tossing the vast majority of them into the jaws of a bear.
Banks’ sense of humor, especially when combining gore and comedy, is sublime. Sam Raimi would be proud of some of the hilarious kills and flying body parts that Banks uses to maximum comic effect. And fair warning to parents who wonder if this movie just has language and adult themes that their kids can tolerate — this is a movie that goes in on the gore. Your little one will know what a bitten-in-half limb looks like. Banks’ timing is her best asset, and she works beautifully with Jackson Jr. and Martindale to amp up every moment for maximum comic potential.
While the story hums along when the dealers and the bear tangle with each other, it does stall out whenever the kids are on screen. We know from the jump that this isn’t the type of movie that’s going to make a child bear food, so watching two child actors screech their little precocious lungs out does nothing to add to the tension or the amusement of the film. The family storyline is also a disservice to Russell, who is a fantastically talented actress. Here, she gets to make worried faces and say variations of Oh no! Not the kids! every time she opens her mouth. In a film that beautifully juggles several intersecting storylines, this one is clearly the dud and should have been scrapped.
Still, there are some dizzying highs. Jackson Jr. in particular is stellar as Daveed. He’s a great straight man to the chaotic events that transpire in the movie. Whether it’s a bear collapsing on his friend or a surprise cop standoff, he’s ready to roll his eyes and grumble about his luck. It’s an endearing performance from an actor who’s gifted in comedy.
The biggest standout in the film, it must be said, is the bear. Called “Cokey” on the set, this ursine speedball is filled with personality (thanks to a great performance from motion capture artist Allan Henry and the New Zealand effects team behind Avatar and Lord of the Rings). Somehow, Cokey manages to have more personality and expression than any of the weird blue cat people James Cameron keeps making movies about. Banks and her team clearly took pains to make sure Cokey had a range of emotions. It’s difficult to marry a bear that will tear a head off with one that does a silly dance when it finds a stash, but Cocaine Bear pulls it off with aplomb.
Cocaine Bear is the movie Snakes on a Plane should have been. It’s vulgar, funny, and a bloody good time. See it in a crowd, or screen it at a party and you won’t be disappointed.
And if you do decide to go camping after this movie do us all a favor and hang your drugs from trees with your food: Only You Can Prevent Bear Drug Rampages.
Verdict: If you buy a ticket for something called Cocaine Bear, hopefully, you understand what you’re getting — and Elizabeth Banks delivers with this gonzo, gory epic.
Cocaine Bear is rated R and available in theaters Feb. 24.
