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This review was first published in February.
We are recirculating it timed toCocaine Bearsstreaming debut on Peacock.
Cocaine Bearis, above all else, a title and a concept, and the movie clearly understands this.
It has an ambling, gory insouciance that might have been more off-putting in a movie not calledCocaine Bear.
The film also doesnt really bother to explain itself.
as he karate-kicks bags of cocaine (why?)
out of a careening, pilotless airplane (why?).
And thats the last we see of Matthew Rhys in this movie.
What about Dee Dees overwhelmed nurse mom (Keri Russell) who goes off in search of them?
Were here for the bear and the cocaine, and the film doesnt skimp on that front either.
If you were expecting an accurate depiction of the effects of cocaine, youre probably in the wrong theater.
IfCocaine Bearhad been made in 1985, perhaps the filmmakers would have meticulously researched the subject.
But this is a movie made in 2023, so cocaine is yet another superpower.
But theres comic fun to be had in variation, too.
Sometimes the bear sneaks up on our characters like a grim woodland menace.
Sometimes its wildly energetic.
Sometimes it falls on them and passes out.
Wardens script isnt particularly intricate, but it is surprisingly quotable.
Bears cant climb trees.
Of course they can!
Then why are you up here?)
And the film is also surprisingly atmospheric.
Banks & Co. appear to have set out to make a cult movie on purpose.
Thats usually a backward approach.
Cult moviesbecomecult movies over a period of time; they dont start off as such.
But we live in hyper-accelerated, echo-chamber times.
Nowadays, you have to claim your cult right from the get-go.
And to that end,Cocaine Bearis just as good as it needs to be.
If it were any better, it probably couldnt call itselfCocaine Bear.
