24 Feb Cocaine Bear Review

COCAINE BEAR

dir. Elizabeth Banks, starring Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, Isaiah Whitlock, and character actress Margo Martindale

Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, this wild dark comedy finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500- pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of cocaine and gone on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow… and blood.

Starring Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, and Ray Liotta in one of his final roles, Cocaine Bear manages to do a disservice to every single one of them. Russell, known for her talents on television in The Americans, a gripping thriller that displays the actress’ immense talents, manages to convey little of that skill or charm here. While not fully her fault (she’s served with a script that’s dead on arrival), this movie may prove to be one of her worst performances to date. Playing Sari (there isn’t a character in this film that has a full first and last name), the mother of a child who’s gone missing in the same woods the eponymous coked out bear is rampaging in, Russell has little to do other than fret and cast about the forest in search of her daughter.

Likewise with O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Daveed, a member of the local drug ring tasked with retrieving the lost product. Jackson’s rapport with Alden Ehrenreich may be the best thing about the movie; the two have decent chemistry together, and in a world where the actors were given substantial roles and parts with actual depth, some magic could’ve been made. The real shame comes with this being one of the final on screen performances of Ray Liotta. Known best for his work on Scorsese’s Goodfellas, Liotta’s career was always one of hits and misses, but the movie makes for a sad note to begin a career ending run on.

Directed by Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear makes for her third directorial feature. There’s signs of promise with Banks, but sadly due to being restricted with such lackluster material it doesn’t provide her with the ability to fully spread her wings. Still, the film’s pacing keeps things moving at a quick clip, throwing the audience right into the thick of it early and doing what it can to keep the energy up. The script, written by Jimmy Warden, is far and away the weakest point of the entire production. Paper-thin characters, undercooked plot lines, and terrible dialogue make this movie borderline unbearable.

Overall, Cocaine Bear, while fun in concept, is an unsalvageable film. From subpar acting to lackluster directing, the end result is a funny short story stretched out over 95 agonizing minutes. Neither plot line has enough meat to last the entire film and somehow both combined still can’t stretch to create a compelling enough narrative when the bear is off screen. While the bear itself warrants laughs during its blow-fueled quest for more cocaine, the human element is what holds the story back from being anything worthwhile. At best, this is a Friday night movie with friends after multiple drinks. Cocaine Bear is currently in theaters.

Review by Darryl Mansel