Cocaine Bear Review: Elizabeth Banks’ Latest Is Ridiculously Fun, Just As Nature Intended
We seem to have reached a point where absurd concepts are no longer doomed to fail at the box office. It wasn’t long ago that a major studio could make a film like this Snakes on an airplane but botch the delivery by not fully understanding how to sell such a project to the masses. Admittedly, cinematic madness doesn’t always sell easily, but now the process of marketing something like Elizabeth Banks’ cocaine bear for general release has caught up with the crazy delights such a film promises. It’s a perfect progression as the film is so seriously and ridiculously fun – just as nature intended.
cocaine bear
Release date: February 24, 2023
Directed by: Elizabeth Banks
Written by: Jimmy Warden
With: Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson, Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Kristofer Hivju, Hannah Hoekstra, Aaron Holliday, with Margo Martindale and Ray Liotta
Evaluation: R, for bloody violence and gore, drug content and language throughout.
The only thing you need to know about the true story that inspired screenwriter Jimmy Warden’s darkly funny, nature-based slasher film is that in 1985, a bear took cocaine. After the point of the inflammatory incident in which former drug officer Andrew C. Thornton II (Matthew Rhys, in a deliciously short cameo) dumped a pile of illegal products throughout the southern United States, cocaine bear dives headfirst into its original and fictional fun.
During the ensuing madness, we’re confronted with a mother (Keri Russell) trying to save her daughter, two criminals (Alden Ehrenreich and O’Shea Jackson) valiantly trying to track down the lost narcotics, and various agency figures ( Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Margo Martindale) who maintain the offices they serve. All roads lead to the bear, while another fine creation from Weta Digital trudges through the national park where the characters roam. It’s a recipe that doesn’t end up being perfect, but it lands solid enough that it might just become a habit for a cult audience — or at least a word-of-mouth success that wins over moviegoers through sheer willpower.
Cocaine Bear doesn’t waste time jumping crazy, and it never lets up.
The tone and scope of cocaine bear emerges from the opening title cards, which cite Wikipedia as an authority source regarding the titular animals. The film doesn’t wink too hard at its audience, but it absolutely knows the lane it’s supposed to be driving in, sticking strictly to the lines on either side. The audience will watch cocaine bear Seeing humans fight a grizzly jacked creature, and damn it, that’s what you’re going to get.
In a meager 95 minutes, Elizabeth Banks and Jimmy Warden nailed admirably a concept that could have worn off rather quickly. Slight flashbacks and cutaways fill in any knowledge gaps the audience might have as the story unfolds. There’s still room for a bit more acting, but the film’s lightning-fast pace only adds to the madness of what unfolds, and things don’t let up for a second.
Regarding the basic concept of cocaine bear, the DNA is very easy to break. It mixes the carnage of a Friday the 13th-style slasher featuring the mayhem and comedy of an Elmore Leonard-style crime story with added Spielberg-style family affairs like those in Jurassic Park. Such a variety of influences makes for a double-edged sword, however, as not all parts are fleshed out as they should be.
Going through multiple storylines in a fairly short film, there are a few flaws that hold things back a bit.
With an intoxicating combination of components to pursue, the varied plots that make up the weird and wild whole have some flaws. It feels like cocaine bear really wants to play in part as a commentary on the Reagan administration’s “War on Drugs,” going so far as to include snippets of infamous PSAs that ran in the ’80s. This effort never fully lands, as there’s never really an exploration of the politics behind the pop culture artifacts aside from adding color that sets the time setting.
cocaine bear has quite a bit on the plate, with the film switching between the three storylines and intersecting as the grand finale hits. It’s admirable how quickly and effectively the pieces slide into place, especially in the film’s earlier acts, but if one segment suffers the most, it’s Keri Russell’s character trying to save her daughter (Brooklynn Prince) from the Threat of drugged bears to rescue.
Whenever the focus is on the subplots involving Alden Ehrenreich and O’Shea Jackson’s narcotics cop or Margo Martindale’s besieged park ranger, the energy is magnetic. The film actually feels more interested in telling these stories, which could have more easily complemented the politically charged satire cocaine bear seems to strive for.
That’s not to say that Keri Russell, or any of the child actors she works with, aren’t welcome in the bigger picture. Rather, they could be better integrated into the film rather than feeling like a last-minute addition to goose suspense. This loose thread doesn’t untangle the fun, as the fast pace pushes things along at a rate where these issues are little more than recognized.
It’s hard not to get high from the absolute madness of Cocaine Bear, especially with a crowd.
The law Franchise DNA present in cocaine bear is part of what makes it all a feast for the eyes. Take some pointers from the Jurassic world In the trilogy in particular, we are treated to a story that showcases man and nature pitted against each other in magnificent ways. Those who believe they can tame the wild will be exposed to their righteous desserts, while those who respect their fellow creatures will learn a valuable non-lethal lesson.
“Respect” is a word that definitely describes why cocaine bear works just as well. Everyone involved, from the executives who gave the green light to the marketing folks who drew multiple flawless tone lines and expectations, know what kind of film this is. At a time when Universal seems to shine with unusual delicacies violent night and the upcoming Will Ferrell/Jamie Foxx comedy straythe arrival of this image seems to signal that the studio is happily embracing cinematic madness.
Cinemas need and deserve films that are pure and uncut bundles of nasty fun cocaine bear. As the cinema and streaming ecosystem undergoes major upheaval, potential success stories like this prove viewers aren’t just looking for comic book adaptations, prestige dramas, or legacy franchises to lure them back to the cinema. People want big screen entertainment that really gets them hooked and cocaine bear is another example of what happens when you play for that need—while respecting why those projects are so desirable in the first place.
We have one more potential word-of-mouth success story on our hands than those who get the first hits cocaine bears Supply may try to pressure her friends and family to do the same. When it comes to Elizabeth Banks’ hilarious foray into the Georgia backwoods, simply saying yes isn’t a deadly or life-threatening decision.