Cocaine Bear is one party animal! This horror comedy, thriller had us in stitches while cringing at the carnivorous ursine’s bloody, gory, frantic antics. Director Elizabeth Banks found just the right touch to mix the outrageous story of a drug drop gone wrong with a black bear that becomes ravenous for the white powder.
Writer Jimmy Warden came up with this jewel of a plot after discovering a real story about a drug runner and ex narcotics officer, Andrew Thornton, who smuggled a plane loaded with 800 pounds of cocaine in 1985. Thornton died before the plane crashed, his body landing on a driveway in Tennessee. Banks even incorporates vintage video of NBC’sTom Brokaw delivering real TV news footage as background connecting to the actual event.
Warden took off on the idea writing a screenplay hoping to get the attention of Writer/Producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, The LEGO Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs). Warden had worked with the creative pair as a production assistant on 21 Jump Street, but never, never thought this would or even could be made into a movie. Miller and Lord sniffed and bit, taking the project to Actress/Producer/Director/Banks about helming this mayhem.
Banks put together a cast of a truly eclectic characters. Some are trying to retrieve the dope, others just end up at the wrong place at the right time to bump into the bear. Stellar performances come from Keri Russell as a Nurse and Mom to Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince). She’s playing hooky with Henry (Christian Convery). These kids are great as innocents who have their own run in with the bear, and the cocaine.
Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) and Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) have been ordered by drug king pin and Eddie’s father, Syd (Ray Liotta in his last role) to find the massive cocaine drop in the National Forest where the plane crashed. But Margo Martindale and Jesse Tyler Ferguson take the cake as Park Ranger Liz and Wildlife Specialist, Peter, whose interactions with the bear are monstrously funny. Add Isiah Whitlock, Jr. as Bob the oversized detective, who’s been trying to lock up Syd for years.
Banks does a great job bouncing between lethal altercations with the bear as multiple story lines take off. Her direction with Jimmy Warden’s writing and some expert editing provide good pacing and perfect comedic timing to set up the surprising jump scares. We could bear-ly stay in our seats! Cinematographer John Guleserian had his work cut out for him following these actors, around the picturesque forest locations.
The film doesn’t work if the bear doesn’t appear authentic. The first glimpse of the animal gave us pause (paws). It looked somewhat fake. Maybe that was the intent, to give the audience a little doubt before the special effects magic kicked in as horrifyingly real.
It’s hard to believe there was never live bear on the set. The drug-addled beast you see on screen is a 500 pound black bear created with frightening photo-realistic special effects. Much of the $35 million dollars to create the film went into the creature crafting by Weta FX, of New Zealand, (founded by Peter Jackson for Lord of the Rings and used for Avatar) to create the CG character they affectionately named “Cokey.”
Best directing yet from Director Banks, but she reportedly wasn’t sure it could work until she saw tests showing the bear sneezing powder on the kids. To get the right reactions from the actors, stunt performer and former student of motion-capture genius Andy Serkis, Allan Henry, was the stand-in going through all the crazed motions wearing a large foam body suit with the bear’s face over his face. You can see what a great job he did seeing the extreme fear on every one of the cast’s faces as they are hounded by this berserk bruin-addict.
Closeups of the powdered face, and piercing roar with blood and gore will have you gasping and laughing at the same time. Cocaine Bear began as a seemingly ridiculous concept, but don’t miss what’s about to become an instant horror/comedy cult-classic.
Universal Pictures. 1 hour 35 minutes R
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