Cocaine Bear tells the 100% true story of the time that a bear ate a bunch of cocaine.
Well OK, the action-comedy film takes some liberties with the truth.
In the film, a black bear ingests several kilos of cocaine after a drug smuggler's plane crashes in the wilderness. That part is true. Where the film diverges from the truth is that in real life, the bear didn't kill anyone. In the film she kills a whole bunch of people.
The real bear, nicknamed Pablo EscoBear, is currently stuffed and displayed at a mall in Kentucky, with very little information about what happened between the time that it ingested the cocaine and when it died with it's stomach "literally packed with cocaine". So the film imagines one particular scenario that could've occured in the intervening hours.
Cocaine Bear revolves around a few converging storylines. Two friends, one recently heartbroken, who want to find the cocaine for themselves. A mother looking for her daughter and her friend who ran off into the cocaine-infested wilderness. A park ranger played by esteemed character actress Margo Martindale, who is infatuated with a barely recognisable Mitchell from Modern Family (the actor is playing a different character).
Their lives become intertwined when they come across one particular ursine drug addict.
The film flip-flops between action and comedy, with a smattering of gore thrown in for good measure.
Watching the film I felt like a teenager again. The perfect viewing scenario for this film would've been at a sleepover in high school when you're staying at the house of your one friend with the cool mum who lets you get out an R-rated film. Shout out to Josh K's mum.
There is going to be a generation of people for whom this is their first R-rated movie, and what a place to start this is.
Since time has certainly made a fool of me and I'm recently 30, the next best place to view this is in a crowded cinema. The comedy is juvenile in parts, but never makes you roll your eyes. The action is gory, but never enough that you have to watch through the cracks in your fingers.
The film also marks one of the final performances of Ray Liotta, who you may know from Goodfellas or if you prefer, he's the bad guy in Wild Hogs. Liotta has always been a fascinating actor, slightly unhinged, never quite sure if that's just a character he plays well or if he's really like that. Cocaine Bear is oddly a beautiful swang song for the actor.
There's no particularly poignant scene featuring Liotta's character or anything, but I feel like if anyone's filmography makes sense to end with a film called Cocaine Bear, it's Ray Liotta.
Director Elizabeth Banks was an eyebrow-raising choice for the film. This is only her third directorial effort after Pitch Perfect 2 and the Charlie's Angels reboot. It may be too early to pick what her style is and maybe she doesn't want to be tied to a single genre, but I could watch a dozen Cocaine Bear films if they're all this much of a good time.
Check out Cocaine Bear if you want to get high... amounts of fun!
SHARE ME