In 1985 a 175 lb Ameican black bear died from an overdose of cocaine in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in northern Georgia. The cocaine came from a duffel bag dropped by plane into the park as part of a bouched drug running operation, a participant in that operaton Andrew Carter Thornton II died when his parachute failed to open and he landed in a Knoxville, Tennessee suburb. The new film 'Cocaine Bear' takes that basic premise and imagines what violent shanagines a bear high on cocaine might get into.
'Cocaine Bear' is a funny concept and the trailer got a lot of positive buzz when it was released a few months ago, but can a movie with such a bizarre premise really work? In my view it did, exceeding expectations 'Cocaine Bear' was a fun time at the movies. The film blends the obvious explotation style gore the idea suggets, an approprate sense of humor about its self, as well as an 80's family adventure film angle, and it works remarkably well; kudos to director Elizabeth Banks for really pulling what could have been a disaster together.
Folks who encounter the bear in the woods include Margot Martindale as a Forrest Ranger, Kerri Russell as a mother looking for her truant daughter (Russell's real life husband Matthew Rhys puts in a cameo appearance as the ill fated Thorton), Isiah Whitlock Jr. as a cop after the drugs, O'shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich and Ray Liotta (in one of his last film roles) as drug dealers after the same. It took a little bit to get going but I had a fun time watching this and continue to marvel at just how well the movie turned out, the pacing is right, the character arcs work, it doesn't overplay the 80's nostalgia. It's a fine film, a legitmatly good movie which I will give ***.
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