According to its promotional posters, Cocaine Bear is based on true events. Coming in non-stop with an 80’s movie-themed music, the first title cards of this film give us a quick overview of what we should anticipate from wild bears like these ones. The source? “Wikipedia”.
Elizabeth Banks, who directed Charlie’s Angels and Pitch Perfect as well) definitely knows what she is doing in this sense. In fact, she is a great actress in her own right as seen in such previous engagements like Mrs. America and her most recent starring role as Call Jane. However, for Cocaine Bear which is now playing at your local theaters, it appears that all she has handled is the camera work only. It knows it’s a bloody b-movie but there might not be much else about it. But Jimmy Warden, the writer of this movie may know a thing or two about possible franchise launch points such as this given his plans for future Cocaine Bear sequels.
At least one gets to see Ray Liotta one last time here which makes him join up with drug dealer characters looking for their stash among Georgia woods where drugs have been hidden. If Cocaine Bear ends up being Ray Liotta’s swan song then he could be laughing from above and not at us.
Universal Picturesbetook some risks recently by mixing various genres while producing other commercial films; like M3GAN (horror+sci-fi+comedy), Violent Night (holiday-action-comedy). And then we have Cocaine Bear (thriller/action/comedy) – inspired by a real-life event from 1985 whereby a smuggler’s plane caught fire leading to loss of cocaine and consumption by black bear. It’s all told through dark comedy that lands weirdos of police officers, criminals, tourists and teenagers converging in Georgia wooded area where giant male carnivore eats too many drugs then goes on rampaging for more. The bear thinks it is okay if several humans die in the process.
After the earlier ‘Wikipedia’ opener, we get a laugh after another when a weird drug peddler (played by Matthew Rhys of The Americans) throws bags of blow out from an airplane while moving. He prepares to jump off with a parachute but unfortunately as he takes off, he knocks his head on something. Now fill in what happens to this poor guy next.
Keri Russell plays the moral compass of this film as she’s called upon to save her daughter who, like most teenagers ran away to the woods with one of her bad influence buddies. Syd played by Ray Liotta has some henchmen and two of them are David played by O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Ingrid Goes West and Long Shot) and Eddie played by Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), who also turns out to be Syd’s son.
Andrew Carter Thornton II was involved in one massive cocaine smuggling network called The Company that was owned by Jamiel “Jimmy” Chagra in real life. In Cocaine Bear however, Thornton’s boss is none other than Syd himself portrayed by Liotta – someone whom fans know does business for St Louis kingpin at burger joints mostly.
Syd needs someone to fetch his cocaine for him when Thornton drops it in the Georgia forest and dies before revealing its location to Syd. Although there are plenty of violent bits along the way, that silly story is still worth a look on a big screen because it will get you laughing. You might want to cover your eyes with your hands though, considering how they compare with films such as Kick Ass. On the other hand, Isiah Whitlock Jr. has always made me laugh when he acts comedies. He plays a detective here who simply misses his puppy while trying to locate drugs and dealers all over the woods. Another high point was the gun stand-off between the two impulsive characters played by O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Whitlock.
Born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1974, Banks grew up watching late ’70s and ’80s movies that she loved; Cocaine Bear gave her an opportunity to pay homage to this era while creating something funny, gory, and entertaining for audiences today. ‘As an audience member and filmmaker wannabe I always loved horror comedy,’ Banks said through a press statement. ‘To me horror comedy go together like Siamese twins joined at birth.’ She wanted a real rollercoaster ride for her audience through laughter, frights and thrills; we wanted them screaming one minute then laughing their heads off in the next. That’s what I set out to do with this movie: take people on a genuine roller coaster ride filled with laughs, screams and jumps! I really felt like this was my chance to layer some true belly-laugh moments with utter suspense as well as buckets of blood—certainly most of all having fun within this huge bright idea about an ass-kicking bear.”
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