'Cocaine Bear' Review: Campy Horror Romp Delivers Wild Comedy Carnage
Cocaine Bear! There's a bear! That's a ton of cocaine! The film! Coca Cola
Here is the review!
I want more? I'm not sure if the film has much to offer, but since this new film with Ray Liotta, Keri Russell and Alden Ehrenreich is in theaters, I'll check it out. Interestingly, this comedy-horror film about a cocaine-dealing bear is based on a true story. This probably leaves you with a lot of questions: when, where and how did this happen? What did the bear do when he woke up? How did he roll the bills with those claws?
Here's the answer: It happened in 1985 in the Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia, when a drug dealer dropped millions of dollars worth of powder from a light aircraft and detonated coke briquettes scattered across the forest. In real life, no one knows what a bear does when he's drunk, but the movie is a very funny murder. Apparently, Bear wasn't using the bills to make cocaine, he was eating pounds of bricks at a time. Although these nails are great for tying several lines at once.
Directed by Elizabeth Banks (and comedy producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller), Marvel's blockbuster Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum of Solace was a modest box office hit after Cocaine Bear. In addition to acting, Banks directed The Perfect Voice 2 and the poorly received reboot of Charlie's Angels. I guess horror is as logical a career path as any after comedy and action.
Cocaine Bear's rapid frenzy and carnage is fun to watch, especially after a few beers. A cross between Slayer and a low-budget creature movie, it throws a group of people into the woods in search of a drugged black bear. Bold Banks director and screenwriter Jimmy Warden prepares the comedy, while the ever-present threat of a killer bear creates nightly entertainment. The result is a great, goofy, great B-movie about bear exploitation that is everything you want a cocaine bear movie to be. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better Friday night movie than this unholy combination of Jaws, Rescue, Friday the 13th, and Yoga Month.
80s-style costumes, stilettos and a soundtrack by Mark Mosersby (ex-Devo) add to the retro-chic vibe. But perhaps the most original aspect of these old-school exploitation films is that they are silly. Often people walk through the forest until it is their turn to meet a bear. One of the most emotional and talented characters disappears for most of the film, leaving us unable to spend time with them without feeling pressured by their fate. This element of interest in the film could have been more interesting if it was a chase that required running/fighting/retrieving a bear. Rather, if I'm not mistaken, it's a walk in the woods than a movie called Cocaine Bear.
The ending is flawed, but more than anything, these characters are remarkably realistic compared to the average drug dealer. Actors know exactly what kind of movies they're in, at least venerable ones like Margot Martindale, who make mountains over the barn door, creating their own leering silliness. Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson, for example, makes his character look bigger and bigger based on an absolutely ridiculous wig and fake beard.
Viral comedian Scott Seis steals the show as Aaron Holiday. Of the main characters, Alden Ehrenreich spends most of his time behind O'Shea Jackson Jr., but does his best as a sadistic drug dealer. And that's exactly Jackson's character: he's a little nervous at first, and slowly gets colder. .
A more sympathetic character is Isaiah Whitlock, a kind but brutal cop. I don't know if anyone else noticed this while watching Cocaine Bear, but a big part of its appeal is that the former Wire actor seems poised to go "Neck huh" for most of his screen time. If a cocaine-addicted bear attacked you, you probably would.
Meanwhile, the crooked drug lord who runs the operation has no idea. But the late Ray Liotta carries a grumbling, sweaty authenticity just because he's Ray Liotta. The film isn't about the good and bad things about the war on drugs (it's not about the bad things about "80s" fun. . In the spiral of addiction and shame it brings, it's destructive and forced to kill yourself - hell, it's a bear! A about cocaine!
Cocaine Bear, a 95-minute thriller about Paddington's cousin to cocaine, is the gory, fun romp we need in the same heroic landscape. Perhaps surprisingly, given the recreational drugs flying around, this doesn't make much sense. But what there is, and I can't stress this enough, is the bear on cocaine. Not all movies are about this?
