Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect 2, Charlie’s Angels) directs this action comedy inspired by a 1985 true story about black bear ingesting 75 pounds of smuggled cocaine. (95 min.)
Glen OK, first of all, to call the story “inspired by” is a stretch. From what I’ve gleaned, a drug dealer (Matthew Rhys) jettisoned cocaine out of a plane into the forest before falling to his death, and a 175-pound back bear ate a bunch of the coke and was later found dead. Beyond that, the story about a rampaging coke-fueled 500-pound “apex predator” attacking hikers, Elsa (Hannah Hoekstra) and Olaf (Kristofer Hivju), is all in screenwriter Jimmy Warden’s imagination. So is the storyline about a mother, Sari (Keri Russell), in search of her middle school daughter, Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince), and Dee Dee’s classmate, Henry (Christian Convery), who skipped school and wandered into the bear’s territory. And the side story about park ranger Liz (Margo Martindale) and her crush, Peter (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), a game warden. And the trio of hooligans—Kid (Aaron Holliday), Vest (J.B. Moore), and Ponytail (Leo Hanna)—marauding through the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest park annoying hikers. And the part about the drug dealer, Syd White (Ray Liotta), coming to recover his missing coke, preceded by his henchman, Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), and bereaved son, Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich), who lost his wife to cancer and is having a hard time being a father. And yet another side plot about a detective, Bob (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), who’s hot on Syd’s trail. The result is a silly, entertaining romp—gory, campy, spoofy. I sort of loved it.
Anna This film was way more fun to watch than I was expecting. I guess I needed a reminder that Banks is hilarious both as an actress and a filmmaker, and she did a great job with this silly story. It has gore—limbs go flying as this beast gets all hopped up on rowdy powder. I’d heard the story long ago. In fact, I think the actual bear this is based on was taxidermied and has been posthumously named “Pablo Eskobear.” The film definitely has very little in common with the actual story—there were no victims besides the bear. But this version is much more fun. A hopped-up, drug-fueled bear ready to tear into anyone and everyone is just plain funny. I was a little worried that this film was going to be dumb and far from funny, and I’m so glad how wrong I was! It was also bittersweet to see Liotta in this role as well since he passed not long ago.
Glen The actors were certainly game for the fun and went all-in. Liotta, in what was one of his final film roles (imdb.com says he’s got another film competed and two more in post-production), was riveting as the desperate drug dealer. Martindale is always a welcome addition, and her amorous Ranger Liz had to hide her frustration with the interference in her wooing process of Peter. Speaking of Ferguson as Peter, he was definitely my favorite character—earnest and goofy with a Chris Elliott vibe and a Captain Kangaroo haircut. As for the bear, it’s CGI and you can tell, but like the CGI sled dog, Buck, from Call of the Wild (2020), I’d rather a real animal not be put through the torture of making a film. This is going to be one of those love-it or hate-it films. If you like gore and absurdist comedy, Cocaine Bear will deliver.
Anna I also really liked Convery, the kid who played Henry. He’s hilarious and adorable. The band of troubled teens was also fun. Holliday as Kid was a great character to tag along with Daveed and Eddie. I had a whole lot of fun watching this one, and I can totally see saying yes to watching it again when it pops up on streaming services. Δ
Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Glen compiles listings. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Mar 2-12, 2023.
