'Cocaine Bear' Review : This Bear Doesn't Have Much Bite
based on the wild, nearly unbelievable true story, cocaine bear had the makings to be another cult classic, but didn’t quite get there.
In the 1980s, a drug runner’s plane carrying cocaine crashed in the middle of the Georgia wilderness where a black bear stumbled upon the drugs, ingested them, and proceeded to go on a murderous rampage. Bringing this audacious true story to life is director Elizabeth Banks, coming off of her two previous features, Pitch Perfect 2 and the reboot of Charlie’s Angels. Filling out her well-rounded cast is Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Margo Martindale, Isiah Whitlock Jr., and the late Ray Liotta.
On paper, Cocaine Bear had nearly unlimited untapped potential. However, there are only brief glimmers of a far better movie that are put on display here. Banks is a capable director, having done an admirable job with Charlie’s Angels and its wide array of action set pieces. However, Banks doesn’t do anything remotely creative behind the camera, bringing little to no energy to the action sequences which are unfortunately few and far between. Aside from a very fun and engaging ambulance chase, the sequences involving the cocaine-fuelled CGI bear are surprisingly forgettable and relatively tame.
The film also suffers considerable inconsistency in regards to its tone and feel. It becomes abundantly clear throughout that the film has a difficult time deciding whether it wants to be an over-the-top action comedy or a straightforward action thriller. When it leans into the former, there is fleeting fun for the audience, but the lack of a firm tone holds the film back tremendously. When it pivots toward the latter, a significant amount of screen time is used to focus on the main characters who aren’t remotely interesting or fleshed out.
Banks has assembled a terrific cast, but they’re saddled with subpar material that they can’t do much to elevate. Ehrenreich and Liotta certainly understand the assignment, dialing their performances up to an eleven, staying comedically heightened and energized throughout. However, Russell, Jackson Jr, and the rest of the cast’s talent is wasted here, feeling as if they’re in a vastly different, far more serious adventure, never getting in on the fun as a result.
The most notable sin the film commits is simply being boring. This is a film that lacks energy, momentum, and overall fun. The pacing feels sluggish at best, its hour and thirty five minute running time feeling far longer than it should. The characters and titular animal ultimately fall flat, delivering yawns instead of edge of your seat thrills. The film never pushes the envelope or its R rating far enough to become a bloody, zany good time, feeling safe rather than edgy and provocative.
Cocaine Bear is unfortunately the biggest disappoint of 2023 thus far, taking a true story ripe with cinematic potential and failing to deliver the irreverent, blood-soaked goods audiences are clamouring for. Though it provides entertainment value here and there, this is a drug-fueled bear that feels declawed.