In 1985, a drug dealer dropped gym bags filled with cocaine out of the air. As usual, local accomplices were responsible for the collection. However, a black bear fell on one of the said bags and died from an overdose. That actually happened. But what would have happened if the animal had survived? This is how the film Cocaine Bear is presented, a very funny, very irreverent and above all very, very bloody horror comedy.
The film doesn’t take itself seriously, but it doesn’t take itself seriously at all – after all, the title is Cocaine Bear – and that’s one of the main reasons for its success. In keeping with the initial situation, Elizabeth Banks’ production is full of excess and visual jokes, but also shows real inventiveness.
First known as an actress, Banks shone early on in comedy, including the delightfully decadent Zack and Miri Make a Porno. It’s broken with the horror, however, testifies to Brightburn, a sort of anti-Superman with The Omen sauce. Without forgetting the horror comedy Slither (Incisions) by James Gunn, future director of Guardians of the Galaxy (Guardians of the Galaxy). Briefly, and with no pun intended, Elizabeth Banks saw snow.
For the most part, Cocaine Bear’s action sequences turn out to be stunning. We especially think of the one where the angry bear is chasing an ambulance, which has to be seen to be believed (during the preview, the full room applauded and howled with laughter while putting on a collectively amazed face).
It has to be said that with his previous film, the action comedy Charlie’s Angels (Charlie and his Merry Ladies), the director made a release failure worth revisiting for the feminist television series read again. In this regard, Cocaine Bear multiplies the interesting female characters of all ages, starting with the heroine Sari, whose teenage daughter had the bad idea of going for a walk in the woods without permission.
A colorful fauna
Sari, performed with a perfect blend of poise and tongue-in-cheek humor by The Americans’ Keri Russell, is meant to be the protagonist, but the fact of the matter is that Cocaine Bear connects a choral structure. Colorful and earthy, this fauna!
So these two henchmen (O’Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich) of a big trafficker (later Ray Liotta), this ranger (Margo Martindale), this detective (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), these two children (Brooklynn Prince, Christian Convery) and this trio of young delinquents (Aaron Holliday, JB Moore, Leo Hanna) all unknowingly throw themselves in the bear’s mouth.
Bear who only thinks of two things: find more coke and devour everyone who crosses his path. And there’s white powder and carnage. Admittedly, the scenario of Jimmy Warden, his second following The Babysitter: Killer Queen, sequel to the Netflix hit The Babysitter, is a bit disjointed at times, but the comic brilliance of the cast, the “second degree” musical choices from the 1980s and Elizabeth Banks’ assured performance more than makes up for it.
We often say to ourselves that the director doesn’t dare to do this or that, “to go that far”. Not only does she go there, but she goes beyond it every time: beyond good taste, decency, right thinking… The result – absurd, vulgar, amoral – is willingly offensive. And absolutely gratifying.
Bear Taking Cocaine (French version of Cocaine Bear)
★★★★
Horror comedy directed by Elizabeth Banks. Starring Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, Brooklynn Prince, Christian Convery, Margo Martindale. USA, 2023, 90 minutes. indoors