Film Review: Cocaine Bear

Welcome back to the blog readers. I just saw the comedy-horror film Cocaine Bear, directed by Elizabeth Banks, and I wanted to share my spoiler-free thoughts. Starring Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Matthew Rhys, and the late Ray Liotta, the film follows multiple characters as they navigate a Georgia forest while being pursued by a bear that becomes addicted to cocaine.

Before I get into my review of the film, I want to take the opportunity to get some things off my chest. The first thing is that the true story behind this film is fascinating. A real bear got into a block of cocaine and sadly overdosed. Once the bear's body was found in Georgia, it was taxidermized and put on display in a mall in Kentucky, where it still is today. And the other thing I want to note is Ray Liotta. This marks one of his final film roles before he unfortunately himself died in May 2022, and the film is dedicated to him. Rest in power Ray. We miss you down here.

Now on to my review of the film. I will say that I enjoyed the film...when the bear was on screen. Once she (sorry, spoiler) makes her presence known, all hell breaks loose and the action is fast-paced and electric. But when Cokey (sorry, that's what I'm naming the bear) is not on screen, I feel as if the film is a bit of a convoluted mess with mostly uninteresting characters.

Speaking of uninteresting characters, I feel as if most of the performances are a bit over-the-top and bombastic. I can say that especially for Isiah Whitlock, Margo Martindale, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson's performances. But the two performances that are not over-the-top and have actual development and layers are those of O'Shea Jackson Jr. and Alden Ehrenreich. Jackson becomes like his famous father Ice Cube in this film, so much more so than when he played his father in the fantastic film Straight Outta Compton. And I ate up every second of it. Ehrenreich has a big year ahead of him (he will be starring in the film Fair Play and the series Ironheart), and he started off strong here, playing a drug dealer dealing with a dilemma. He actually puts in the best performance from a human character here and displays some real emotion and complexity to his character.

But the real MVP of this episode is the bear. She killed it (both figuratively and literally) every time she was on screen. She even has more complexity than most of her human counterparts, and she looked incredible as well. She does some awesome things and has the funniest moments in the film, especially once she sees cocaine. And she even becomes a sympathetic character once the big reveal happens, and you will find yourself rooting for the bear in my opinion.

There are two more things I want to speak positively on. The first is the runtime. Being only an hour and 35 minutes, the film does not overstay its welcome and actually feels like it is the perfect length. And the final thing I want to note is the score by Mark Mothersbaugh (who did the score for Thor: Raganrok, which was incredible). I think he got inspired from that soundtrack, plus the aesthetic from Stranger Things, which compliments the 80s setting perfectly.

Overall, Cocaine Bear is a fun and gory flick with a killer bear that ultimately gets dragged down by some uninteresting characters. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.