Courtney Howard // Film Critic
COCAINE BEAR
Rated R, 1 hour and 35 minutes
Directed by: Elizabeth Banks
Starring: Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Isiah Whitlock Jr., Ray Liotta, Brooklynn Prince, Christian Convery, Margo Martindale, Jesse Tyler Ferguson
They say “print the legend,” but beloved, taxidermied Pablo EskoBear (who died in Georgia and now resides in a Kentucky Mall) takes it to the extreme, gaining icon status with COCAINE BEAR, a robust reimagining of his fateful discovery. Almost 4 decades after his accidental death, the wild, 175-pound black bear who ingested a lethal stash of cocaine transforms from a gone-too-soon, stuffed tourist attraction to movie superstar. Director Elizabeth Banks and screenwriter Jimmy Warden take a very bare-bones, true-life tale and turn it into a rousing, completely gonzo, wildly berserk horror-comedy. The bear’s now got a body count, lusting over blood and blow.
In 1985, an overzealous drug smuggler (Matthew Rhys) drops duffle bags filled with kilos of coke over the Chattahoochee Natural Forest in an attempt to ditch his contraband cargo before bailing from his malfunctioning aircraft. However, his parachute doesn’t open and he lands splat in a residential driveway in Knoxville, Tennessee. The death draws the attention of Detective Bob (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), who identifies the deceased as an affiliate of known drug kingpin Syd White (Ray Liotta). And when some insider information comes into his precinct, he’s determined to follow his suspicions about the potential whereabouts of the missing evidence. Yet nothing can prepare him for what awaits: Cokey, a massive black bear hopped up on booger sugar, running loose in the state park.
Meanwhile, as Syd’s emotionally fragile son Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) and frustrated right hand man Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) scour the area for the drop point, a group of locals are unwittingly drawn into the shenanigans. Caring single mom/ nurse Sari (Keri Russell) is forced to go into the woods to track down her smart, headstrong 13-year-old daughter Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince), whose determination to paint the park’s waterfall lands her and her chatty bestie Henry (Christian Convery) in direct contact with the bear. Park-Ranger-With-Something-To-Prove Liz (Margo Martindale) and her wildlife rep crush Peter (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) also encounter the strung-out bear and a roaming gang of criminal teens. Mayhem ensues.
Expecting or demanding too much from a film with a straight-forward title – not to mention one whose star attraction is a CGI bear with a bad drug habit – is where folks would be going wrong. Not that there needed to be an excessive amount of character development, but there’s very little beyond their basic construction. Daveed isn’t afforded much in the way of logically motivated internal stakes. So much so, you might question why he doesn’t peace out at the first sign of danger. Yet the blessing is that conflicts are all action-driven, mainly boiling down to the external stakes of the filmmakers’ clever Man Versus Beast challenges– and those fights for survival hold massive entertainment value. Comedic absurdity and innovative bombast are found within these kills.
All these characters make bonehead moves, which is not only endemic to the slasher genre (which this ‘80s-inspired flick emulates in its designs and techniques), but also speaks to the narrative’s subtextual commentary on the hubris and folly of man. They leave out food, carve their initials in trees, and leave ecologically damaging footprints. It’s no wonder mother nature, in the form of a rampaging apex predator, delivers lots of deliciously deadly comeuppance. Kids innocently swear and sample the powdery goods, which steeps the proceedings further in the authenticity of the time period. Long-running gags, dealing with either the detective’s dog or Daveed’s prized wardrobe items getting wrecked, are handled with humorous ingenuity.
Production designer Aaron Haye and costume designer Tiziana Corvisieri’s attention to detail is unparallelled, from the dive bar’s signage to the pilot’s Gucci loafers (shoes the real life smuggler was sporting). Set pieces like the bear’s ambulance pursuit, tree climb and spectacular nap flop/ revival are innovatively conceived and showcased. Mark Mothersbaugh’s synth score adds warm symphonics, immersing us in the period’s soundscape.
Though this cinematic iteration diverges greatly from its real-life, headline grabbing inspiration (that human interest story is not centered his romp inhaling “snow,” but rather his post-death shenanigans), it’s a grandiose good time nonetheless. Gory and glorious, this rip-roaring rampage’s zany brand of fun is addicting. And for the sequel it baits, they should let the bear loose at a rehab facility.
Grade: B-
COCAINE BEAR opens in theaters on February 24.
