Cocaine Bear

Grade: B-

I don’t know what a cocaine high feels like, and I’m not interested in finding out now. I’ve gotten by pretty well for 41 years without that in my mix, so I’m good. Cocaine Bear, opening in theaters tomorrow, is a strong contender for a new cult classic, like Snakes on a Plane. Neither title leaves much to the imagination when it comes to plot. You might know Elizabeth Banks as an actress, in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, the Hunger Games movies, and Oliver Stone’s W. – or for her directorial work (Pitch Perfect 2, Charlie’s Angels [2019]). She directs Cocaine Bear with a clippy efficient speed, and plenty of 1980s camp.

I thought of Robert Altman and Quentin Tarantino while the film’s opening third introduced me to the many characters, and the various ways they find themselves at this nature center in Georgia. As if I need to give you a summary, a large black bear has gotten its paws on several blocks of cocaine (unloaded into the north GA mountains from a drug plane), and goes on a rampage. The large cast is mainly unrecognizable faces, with a couple that I know and love. We have Keri Russell, a popular staple of 90s film and television. Nice to see her again. Alden Ehrenreich made me think of a young Ray Liotta, and incidentally, he turns out to be Liotta’s son in this movie. This was one of a few movie projects that Liotta had in the can by the time of his death in May 2022. I don’t know which one was filmed last, but if this was his final role, it’s a spectacular way to go out.

There is an appropriate amount of gore, chases, crashes, violence, and humor to satisfy anyone who had seen this trailer for months and has been curious. You will laugh and wince at the same time. There are some specific, creative deaths, and the child actors have quite a vocabulary on them. You wonder why those who are able to leave don’t just go ahead and do so. Several characters are “packing,” and they have so many opportunities to shoot the bear, but they don’t. The way we find out the gender of the bear, and how they know, is one of Cocaine Bear’s biggest laughs.

This is a silly movie, but there’s a certain charm and depth to these characters, at least the ones we care about. It takes smart minds to create something that gets as dumb as this, but they know what they’re doing here. There is a credits scene at the end, where people who were beginning to leave stopped and watched. Then after a minute of more credits, another scene comes up. That made me stop and sit down for a while. I hung in there for a few more minutes, and as far as I know, that was the last of the action. It’s really quite clever how they play with us there. Cocaine Bear’s hour and 35 minute run time goes by fast, like it’s on something that I hear gives you a high-strung jolt of energy. Some might say it insults your intelligence. Not if you leave it at the door.

Grade: B-