AT THE MOVIES

by Isy Jordan

Cocaine Bear
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Starring: Ray Liotta, Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O'Shea Jackson Jr., and more.


An oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converge on a Georgia forest where a huge black bear goes on a murderous rampage after unintentionally ingesting cocaine.

When I went to see this movie, I was hoping for a fun time. No pre-requisites, just fun. Cocaine Bear delivered spectacularly.

Directed by Elizabeth Banks, this film is set in 1985 and it felt like a movie from the era down to the soundtrack. It's based on a true case in 1985 where drug smugglers dropped cocaine into the Tennessee wilderness. A bear found some of it and ingested it, resulting in its death.

In our film, the bear goes on a murderous rampage that is a strange combination of gore, violence, and laugh-out-loud moments. The film steps on the gas quickly action-wise and never lets up.

The cast was great from a nurse whose young daughter and friend wander into the woods to paint the waterfall, to two drug dealers trying to retrieve the product dumped in the woods, to an amorous park ranger who should never have been given a firearm. The reactions of the characters are pretty true to life and made for outrageous fun. There are a lot of moving parts but it's not hard to keep up with.

Horror and comedy fans alike will love this one and it has all the makings of a cult classic in the years to come. It's Return of the Living Dead meets Zombieland with a little South Park and Miami Vice thrown in.

Cocaine Bear is rated R for language, violence, gore, and jump scares. Its run time is just over 90 minutes and it's the perfect length. The violence is probably not for kids but older teens should be just fine with your permission. A unique movie experience that's best viewed on the big screen. Just go see it. You'll thank me later.

Isy