Bear on cocaineFrench version of Cocaine Bear. It is exactly what you imagine! What more can be said ? After seeing this proposal as strange as it is amusing, there are still things to tell.
First, Jimmy Warden’s screenplay is based on a true story. In 1985, a bear actually ate bricks of cocaine thrown from a plane piloted by former narcotics agent-turned-trafficker Andrew C. Thornton II. The beast, however, was found dead of an overdose in upstate Georgia and there were no casualties.
In the feature film produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), the bear kills. A lot. Before getting to the bitten limbs and lacerated bodies, we meet the owners of these, who, for various reasons, will end up in the woods at the same time as the completely stoned bear. They include a couple of hikers, two tweens who are skipping school, a mother looking for them, a park warden, a trio of loafing teens, the criminals trying to find the coke bags and a detective. .
All are friendly or funny. We could also have written “endearing”, but getting attached to it is not advisable… Although this is the story of a murderous bear in search of his next fix, there are some touching moments during this hour and a half – even a little too late. However, comic horror fans, have no fear, Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect 2, Charlie’s Angels) built a film of morbid humor in the first place.
The most entertaining aspect of Cocaine Bear lies in the originality of the situations in which the bear and the poor humans meet: at the top of a tree, in an ambulance, on and under an arbor… The action takes place mainly during the day, so each bite is clearly visible – without being excessively gory. Despite all this light, Mark Mothersbaugh’s camera and music sometimes manage to escalate the tension. We would have liked more, but Cocaine Bear don’t do subtlety. It’s pretty obvious that the bear is computer-generated, but not to the point of giving us away.
More annoying are the very similar reactions of the protagonists to danger. They all scream exaggeratedly, without really convincing us of their terror. Towards the end, they barely flinch at the animal’s white muzzle. Adrenaline is however more powerful than cocaine… But, as the adventure is short and intense, we come out of it well entertained.
Indoors
horror comedy
Cocaine Bear
(V.F.: Bear on cocaine)
Elizabeth Banks
With Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson Jr.
1:35 a.m.