Director: Elizabeth Banks
Starring: Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, and Ray Liotta
Movie Length: 1 hour 35 minutes
Dan’s thoughts: Going into the movie everything I knew about it was based on the trailer. If that’s all you know about it, you’re in for a ride. The movie is silly and a bit over the top at times…but what can you say about a bear that does cocaine and goes around killing people.
You can tell the cast all had fun filming the movie, including the 2 tweens (Christian and Brooklynn) who dared each other to do some cocaine, which resulted in a funny scene. Even though the trio of Alden, O’Shea, and Ray (in one of his last movie roles) were the “bad guys” you feel for them…well not all of them. The rest of the main cast including Keri, Isiah, and Margo all have their own searches which result in the crossing paths with the bear which lead to violent and sometimes bloody results.
All in all this is a perfect movie for future midnight movie screenings. It is the perfect mix of comedy and bloody gore (along with a few jump scares) that had the audience I saw it with laughing quite a bit.
My score: 9/10
Darren’s thoughts: You can’t judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a movie by its title? Snakes on a Plane could be the perfect movie title – it clearly tells you the movie is about … snakes on a plane while subtly telling you exactly what you are in for if you see the movie. Cocaine Bear is the spiritual successor to that movie. Loosely based on real events, the movie is a movie about a bear that does cocaine and runs amok. The title is bizarre enough to make you curious, and it screams silly fun, and it definitely delivers on what its title promises. It somehow manages to be both extremely violent and funny at the same time.
Cocaine Bear is one of those movies that introduces a lot of disparate characters and brings them together. In doing so, it starts off a bit slow, but once the mayhem starts, things really get rolling. The character introductions bear fruit, as most of the characters (even the ‘bad’ ones) are given enough personality to make you like them at least a little bit – which is essential in a movie with a body count. The Elizabeth Banks directed and Jimmy Warden written movie knows what it is and knows what it isn’t, resulting in an over the top, bloody, and ridiculous ride.
Here is my Through the Lens podcast review of Cocaine Bear: https://anchor.fm/darren-shulman/episodes/Cocaine-Bear-Review-e1vehpb
My score: 8/10
Cocaine Bear is now in theaters.
Are you going to watch the movie? Have you already? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Twitter at @TheConCollectve!
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