The story itself is pretty compelling, that cocaine is dropped from a sputtering plane by a drug smuggler in rural Georgia in 1985. All the elements of character are in place for a horror comedy, with a young-in-love couple, park rangers, cops, drug smugglers, young kids, a terrified but strong mom, and troubled teens all meeting up in a crescendo in the woods for a major standoff against the titular bear.
Director Elizabeth Banks seems to be riding on a very Stranger Things style of filmmaking that may already be running its course in terms of inpired creativity. Keri Russell doesn't seem to be used particularly well as the mom; O'Shea Jackson Jr., provides the comedic relief as one of the smugglers and of course always wins major points just for being Ice Cube's son; Isiah Whitlock Jr., is also funny as the dog-loving cop; Margo Martindale is typically wacky as the lead ranger but maybe not as funny as she usually is; and drug kingpin Ray Liotta probably deserved better for his final role.
All in all, I think Cocaine Bear is watchable but could have been better cutting some of its 100-minute runtime. It's also a bit of a letdown after all the pre-release hype, and I'm glad I waited to watch it for free on streaming.
3 out of 5 stars
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