Not since Snakes on a Plane has a title for a movie been so absurd that I just had to see the movie. While Snakes on a Plane delivered on its B-movie camp, it was still kind of a bad movie no matter how hard Samuel L Jackson seemed to try to carry that film. Cocaine Bear embraces its absurd title, and it goes over the top and beyond with a black ear ingesting more cocaine than Tony Montana would ever dare to snort. The film is loosely based on true events, the truth being that a drug runner did die while tossing numerous bags of cocaine out of a plane in 1985 and that a bear was found dead after ingesting a large quantity of cocaine. This film attempts to rewrite history by posing the “what if?” that the bear encounters many unfortunate humans while on its cocaine binge. For me the moment I heard they were making this a movie, it was on my radar. I mean, this is the kind of storyline that gets me grinning ear to ear, because I know it has the potential to be great if put into the right hands. The Broken Lizard gang (Super Troopers) or David Wain (Role Models) would have been my first guesses at who would snatch up this project, but when I heard Elizabeth Banks was going to be at the helm, I’ll admit I was a bit hesitant. As an actress I love her work, but behind the camera she had Pitch Perfect 2, which was of course successful, but let’s face it, I’m not the film’s demographic. Then she had the recent Charlie’s Angels reboot, and we all know how that did. I wanted to remain optimistic till I at least saw the trailer to see how she’d tackle the project, because honestly this was either going to be a hit or a miss, but when I saw that trailer my worries were put at ease, and this was back to being one of my more anticipated movies of the year.
The film opens up in 1985 over Georgia, and we see Thornton (Matthew Rhys) tossing the cocaine-filled bags out of the plane and then his unfortunate (yet humorous) demise. We then get to met a charming couple that is on a hike in the hills of Chattahoochee, Georgia. They are the first to cross paths with the “cocaine bear”, and, well, let’s just say nature isn’t too kind to them. While these opening minutes set the tone of the film, buckle up, because things are only going to get crazier as the film progresses. As for the actual plot of the film, it is a bit of an ensemble piece with a bunch of characters that are doing their own thing, but the “cocaine bear” just is wreaking havoc and is simply making everyone’s bad day even worse.
Sari (Keri Russell) is a nurse who is trying to find her daughter Dee Dee (Brooklyn Prince) who has decided to ditch school with her friend Henry (Christian Convery) to go check out a waterfall. If there is going to be one complaint this film gets, it will be about these two kids and them experiencing cocaine. Personally I feel the sequence is so over-the-top that I don’t know why anyone would get upset, but these days it seems audiences are overly sensitive to everything. To be fair, this movie, though it does use drug use for laughs, I don’t think it endorses the drug, but instead just shows it’s more trouble than it’s worth. The film even is self-aware by showing one of the old PSA’s about not doing drugs, where Pee Wee Herman was used in the ad. If you grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, I’m sure you remember the cheesy ads with the egg in the frying pan. Anyway, the kids almost steal this movie, they are so much fun to watch together, It’s impressive when you consider the veteran actors who are in the film, and they almost outshine all of them. Then we have Bob, who is played by Isiah Whitlock Jr. Just about everyone knows him from The Wire, but he’s also shown up in a few films by Spike Lee and numerous movies and TV shows, and every time he comes on the screen he makes that scene even better just with his presence. This time he’s playing a detective who is investigating the death of Thornton, and he knows the connection to a drug dealer, Syd (Ray Liotta) who is based out of St. Louis. While he’s following the trail of duffle bags of cocaine, he’s also adjusting to life with a new dog. Then there is Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr), a drug dealer sent out by Syd to collect as many bags of cocaine as he can with Syd’s son Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich). These two are another pair that have great chemistry together and make this film so much fun to watch. For O’Shea this is that role he’s needed to step out of the shadow of playing his dad, Ice Cube, in Straight Out of Compton, and the same can be said for Alden since his role in Solo. I like both of these guys, and this film definitely has them playing against what were used to seeing them do. Then there is Margo Martindale as a Park Ranger looking for love and dealing with a group of hooligans who have been harassing people in the state park. And then there is Syd; he just wants his drugs back and for his son to get his life together. This is supposed to be the last film Liotta was in, and in a lot of ways I feel it is appropriate when you consider Goodfellas is pretty much the role we all remember him for. The entire cast is great, and just seeing them interact together is entertaining, and that’s without them needing to share screen time with the bear. The “cocaine bear” is just that wild card ingredient to this story that makes an already entertaining film one that is destined to become a cult classic.
My only strong complaint about the film is its third act. It has nothing to do with the story, but instead it is just so dark and murky you can’t really see any detail with what is going on. Sure, it was shot at night, and the darkness could cover up some of the CGI work with the bear, but it unfortunately takes the viewer out of the story. This may come as a surprise to some, but yes, the bear was CGI, and motion capture was used so no bears were harmed in the making of this film, which means no bears actually ingested any cocaine. WETA was responsible for the FX, and for the most part I think they did a great job. I don’t think anyone will be fooled and think that it is a real bear on camera. but it works enough that I wasn’t distracted or ever thought the FX were just bad.
At the end of the day. Cocaine Bear is exactly the movie it sounds like it should be and is even better. There’s the discussion about what movies will save the experience of going to the movies. This is the kind of movie I believe will. This is the kind of movie you want to see with a crowd where you can laugh and groan together. It’s a comedy with a little action and a little horror and results in a raucous good time. Elizabeth Banks definitely pulled off something memorable here. It was a tough balance, but she really nailed this film, and it has me looking forward to seeing what’s next. Hopefully this film delivers at the box office, because this film is nicely set up for sequels, and I’m all in to seeing more Cocaine Bear on the big screen.
“It’s like cocaine Christmas.”
