This movie is the perfect example of how little you should trust the overused tagline of “inspired by a true event”. If you just go to IMDb’s trivia page, you will quickly discover how “uneventful” the true story was and how much heavy lifting the word “inspired” does in that sentence. Long story short, yes, there was a drug smuggler who dumped some cocaine out of a plane and died during it. And yes, some of the cocaine ended up getting eaten by a bear, but… He didn’t go on any drug-induced rampage; he simply died by overdosing, presumably within minutes. But see, this is why I love Hollywood because somebody reads about this and says to themselves: “Yeah, but… what if he didn’t die though?” And thus, the Cocaine Bear was born.
From the first trailers, it seemed like Cocaine Bear would be one of those B movies that give you precisely what it promised – a bear who did a lot of cocaine and went on a killing spree. And if you were to summarize this film, that’s honestly it. But, to my surprise, there was much more to chew on. From the casting to the directing, I thought everything was well done, and this movie surprised me a bunch.
I think the biggest surprise was the direction. This is Elizabeth Banks‘ third movie. After an underwhelming Pitch Perfect 2 (2015) and decent but ultimately faulty Charlie’s Angels (2019, my review here), I was worried that she might be one of those artists trying to do everything but end up not doing anything well. You know the old saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” But, funnily enough, it was Cocaine Bear who convinced me that she had something going for her, as she managed to blend a few different stories quite well; she understood the pacing and how long this film needed to be, and it seemed talented people want to work with her. As weird as it sounds, I am much more excited about her next project because of her directing a movie about a bear that did cocaine.
When we talk about the cast, where do you start? From legends like Ray Liotta (for whom this is his last film, may he rest in peace) and Margo Martindale (aka Character Actress Margo Martindale) to Isiah Whitlock Jr., O’Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and in the leading role, Keri Russell. They each have vastly different roles to play, but more importantly, each character has a unique quirk that makes this movie much more believable. Many movies struggle with this, as they drop us into a situation where we should feel like this is just another day for these characters. Cocaine Bear succeeded in that regard, and it was due to these quirks (like Isiah’s love for dogs but not being sure about the one he’s gotten now, Aiden’s trying to get over his ex etc.), that this movie felt real.
Also, this movie has two child actors who did a great job. Brooklynn Prince and Christian Convery managed to nail their roles. In many other films, we would almost be rooting for the bear to eat those annoying kids already. It’s an unfortunate truth that most child actors are not that great, but you don’t want to criticise them too much because they are children. But in this movie, both not only nailed their roles, but Henry (Christian’s character) was my favourite character in this film. Especially the scene where he pretends to know how to do cocaine and, in the aftermath of that scene, how he acts high… that was comedic gold. I hope he’s got a bright future ahead of him because I feel like he’s got some chops and talent.
The only thing I could critique this movie for is that towards the end, it became more predictable than I think was necessary, and how our characters meet it didn’t flow as naturally as what happened before. Also, some characters are paper thin with no work put into them, and they just do things because it says so in the script. Case in point, Ayoola Smart‘s character Reba flips sides whenever the script needs her to without us understanding why or where she stands… Maybe there was a longer cut of this film involving more scenes with her? But again, how much character work do you really need in a movie called Cocaine Bear?
Overall, Cocaine Bear is a fascinating case study of many things. It shows us how much “inspired by a true event” can be overexaggerated and reminds us that some people take time to hit their stride (like Elizabeth), and we should allow them to find it. I had a lot of fun with this movie and was impressed with the packed casting, with both kids and, honestly… For a film with such a thin premise, it worked much better than it had any right to. I would recommend it to anybody looking for a great B movie.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke