How A Crazy Bear Became High on Cocaine

JARRETT CONNELLY JARRETT.CONNELLY.20@CNU.EDU

“The bear did cocaine!”. A bear going on a cocaine fueled rampage is one of the strangest premises for a movie in recent years. The film Cocaine Bear, directed by Pitch Perfect 2 director and acclaimed actress Elizabeth Banks, hit theaters on February 24th. For 95 minutes, the audience is put through a gory, funny, and insane ride that you can’t take your eyes off of.

The movie is fictionalized but partially based on the real story of a black bear (posthumously named Pablo Escobear) who died of a cocaine overdose after consuming a shipment that was accidentally airdropped into the Georgia wilderness. In the film, the bear consumes the abandoned cocaine and goes completely berzerk onto unsuspecting people. There’s a variety of human characters within the park, from a mom searching for her runaway daughter to a duo of gangsters looking to retrieve the coke.

The characters are played by a variety of talented actors including Jesse Tyler Ferguson, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Keri Russell, Isaiah Whitlock, and the late great Ray Liotta (who the film is dedicated to).

The film does a great job of making this drugged up bear a force to be reckoned with. It moved at incredible speeds and had unbridled rage. The CGI to create the bear was so well done and you can see the rage in its eyes. The film has plenty of blood and gore to mix in with the true chaos of the cocaine bear’s rampage.

Cocaine Bear also doesn’t take itself too seriously with plenty of funny dialogue and moments to mix in with the carnage. Even if you’re going in expecting to be shocked or to laugh, the film finds a way to surprise you. It’ll give you more than what you ask for (though to be fair, I’m not sure who asked for this movie but good on you).

If films like Sharknado and Killer Klowns from Outer Space taught us anything, it’s that it’s fun to just sit back and enjoy a crazy movie. Seeing this movie in theaters is an incredible experience to have. There is never a dull moment and its nonstop insanity and the story is enjoyable.

One twitter user accurately described it as “If the Coen brothers made Sharknado”. I guess the only thing to ask is what’s next? Heroin Beaver? Meth Pug? Ecstasy Alligator? Benadryl Moose? The possi- bilities are truly endless. Cocaine Bear is in theaters now to be enjoyed by whoever wishes to have 95 minutes of their life blessed by the lunacy.

Poster of Cocaine Bear from IMDb