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Cocaine Bear Movie Review

Cocaine Bear is a 2023 horror comedy film directed by Elizabeth Banks and starring Keri Russell and O’Shea Jackson Jr. It’s a very underrated genre flick.

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“What the fuck is wrong with that bear?“

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After a 500-pound black bear consumes a significant amount of cocaine and embarks on a drug-fueled rampage, an eccentric gathering of cops, criminals, tourists and teenagers assemble in a Georgia forest. Elizabeth Banks is an underrated comedic talent and she here has directed her best effort to date. Her brand of humor is very off-kilter and quite funny.

The plot has some basis in real history, but only to a certain degree. Yes, cocaine was dropped to the forest and the bear did eat it, which resulted to its death. But the movie made up everything that happened in the meantime with all the killings. And this is the crux of the story – the bear going after foolish humans and killing them one by one.

Rare are horror comedies that work and Cocaine Bear is one of those films. Yes, it’s not particularly scary per say and it is way too gory for me, but in its over-the-top black humor and some very smart lines of dialogue the film was effective throughout. It made me laugh more than a couple of times and it was honestly a treat to watch from start to finish. It is perfect for theaters and I am sad that I didn’t get to experience it there.

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Keri Russell is memorable as the protagonist, but too much of a straight character. The two kids are much more fun and the boy is actually hilarious with his observational lines of dialogue that consistently made me chuckle. Alden Ehrenreich of ‘Solo’ fame was here and he was just as forgettable as ever, but O’Shea Jackson Jr. killed it as one of the funniest members of this cast. His action scenes were so funny. Ray Liotta in his final role was quite effective and of course Margo Martindale was one of the comedic highlights as this loud, over-the-top ranger.

Cocaine Bear actually features some surprisingly solid CGI on the bear as it looks believable for the most part and surprisingly realistic. The action/horror scenes are executed brutally and amusingly while the forest imagery is frequently quite gorgeous. The pacing is messy and it has too many characters, but at least most of them are memorably colorful.

The soundtrack is evocative of the eighties in that wonderful synth-pop quality while the overall atmosphere also is nostalgic of that period, but not overly so as the film still operates as its own vehicle. Yes, it’s too silly most of the time, but this is the type of movie that brings a smile to your face and makes you entertained throughout, which is why I do contend that it was harshly criticized by critics and audiences alike.

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