There’s a lot that can make me want to watch a movie. Usually, it’s down to who is starring in it, what the plot is and who the director is. Or who is on the crew like the cinematographer or editor. But sometimes you hear about a film being developed and then made that makes you ignore all that and watch it just purely on the title alone. Many years ago, it was Snakes on a Plane. And now in 2023, that film is Cocaine Bear. It sounded at first like such a crazy plot for a film, you just had to see it right away. Also judging from what the story is, it sounds like something that couldn’t possibly be true. It’s too crazy.
Cocaine Bear is inspired by a real event where a copious amount of cocaine was thrown from a plane by a drug dealer who also died after jumping out. This happened due to getting caught up in his parachute. In the film it’s a lot more comical and sets the tone of the film. And perfectly shows that this is going to be an 80s set film with an 80s style and sensibility. The drug dealer’s name was Andrew C. Thornton II, played in this film by Matthew Rhys of Perry Mason and The Americans fame. He is married in real life to his Americans co-star Keri Russell who also stars in the film as Sari. The said cocaine was then ingested by an American black bear who was later found dead from consuming cocaine. The bear today is propped up in a museum, which can be classed as cruel in some ways. An unusual and almost folkloric story like DB Cooper disappearing after jumping out of a plane himself with a shit load of money. It was enough for screenwriter Jimmy Warden to write a film out of the bear story and for Elizabeth Banks to direct it. A film very much out of her usual directorial wheelhouse after having directed two crowd pleasing exciting films, Pitch Perfect 2 and 2019’s Charlie’s Angels Reboot with Kristen Stewart. Charlie’s Angels however did not set the box office on fire, but I am still curious to check it out. I was curious and excited to check Cocaine Bear out as I was just a fan of the title and of the trailer which just sold a film that was deemed to be an absolute good time. And Cocaine Bear is an absolute good time and a big ball of fun. It’s not perfect. But you get exactly what it says on the tin. A ferocious killer bear high on a lot of cocaine. You are frightened and amused by the bear, it is a comedy horror film and in one moment towards the end, makes us sympathise with the bear. Cocaine Bear is a real proper 80s style comedy horror that was not just all title and no filler. Snakes on a Plane really was all title and not much else and a little too serious at times. Too serious for its own good. Cocaine Bear is exactly what you expect it to be. Is it perfect? No. Could it have been better and embraced its schlockiness? Yes, in some ways it could have. But it still made me laugh a lot and I got what I wanted out of it. So far, my favourite film of 2023.
Going to see Cocaine Bear or any monster film in general, you don’t really go to see it for the people/characters. You are going to see it for the bear. Jaws is the exception where it had a great monster, the great white shark named Bruce but also it was just a brilliantly made and written film. Usually with monster/creature feature movies like Cocaine Bear, you can have fun and entertaining characters to follow. Stephen Sommers knew this with Deep Rising. They don’t have to be Eugen O’Neill or Arthur Miller style of characters. Cocaine Bear does lack some well-developed and interesting characters and the only one who has somewhat of an arc is Alden Ehrenreich who plays a depressed dad mourning his wife. He is one of many well known actors in this ensemble and he shares a buddy film plot along with O’Shea Jackson Jr who plays his partner. Daveed (Jackson Jr) and Eddie (Ehrenreich) are tasked with finding the cocaine that was thrown out of the plane. A task given to them by Eddie’s father Syd (Ray Liotta in his final film role, the film is dedicated to him). They head off to Chattahoochee–Oconee National Forest in Northern Georgia to find it. Also searching for the cocaine is a cop named Bob (Isiah Whitlock Jr) and they all come across the title character who is stalking and hunting everyone from Keri Russell’s Sari who is looking for her missing daughter Dee Dee (The Florida Project’s Brooklynn Prince) to Margo Martindale’s lovesick and trigger happy Park Ranger Liz.
I was a bit worried when watching Cocaine Bear that all the best moments of the film were in the trailer. As the film started, I was a bit worried I would only enjoy the bits I saw in the trailer. It takes a while for it to pick up some steam. For a 90 minute plus film, it does feel sluggish at times, particularly in the scenes without the bear. It takes a while to get going and there is a lot of setting up the characters. Even with opening with a bear attack a la Jaws. Once it gets past all the set up and gets into all the gory bear carnage then it is a lot of fun. Elizabeth Banks nails all the bear horror sequences and the comedic moments. There is one sequence involving an Ambulance, EMTs and Depeche Mode’s song ‘I Just Can’t Get Enough’ which was a work of comedy genius which had me nearly falling out of my seat crying my eyes out with laughter. So for that, Elizabeth Banks did that very well. But I think the main issue was the writing and the developing of the characters. Apart from a few nice moments and good one liners, Jimmy Warden’s screenplay is lacking a little bit of meat on its bones. It doesn’t have to be life changing or be something that is Oscar worthy, it just needed refining and have fun characters you care about fully to follow around with for however long the movie is. You do want the bear to be on screen all the time and the film loses some energy when she is not on screen.
Despite some iffiness when it comes to its screenplay and some editing choices (there are some choices in the cuts that I found odd at times) Cocaine Bear was an absolute riot. I came out of the cinema mostly satisfied and with a big smile on my face. Cocaine Bear is a real hoot and a near cult classic. A real outlandish creature feature with some hilarious laugh out loud moments. For the most part, Cocaine Bear works and does the job it needs to do even though it doesn’t quite take advantage of the schlocky nature of the plot.
- Anders
3.5/5
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