If you ask me you cannot make the decision to watch a movie called Cocaine Bear and then complain about it! It is called freaking Cocaine Bear for goodness’ sake, what were you expecting! It is like the movie Hot Tub Time Machine, how can you watch a movie called that and then complain it was dumb?
How to Download Cocaine Bear
Cocaine Bear was released on 24 February 2023. You can reasonably hope to be able to download the film around 45 days after its theatrical release. Look for it on Peacock TV. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and check the current availability. If you want to see more movies produced or directed by Elizabeth Banks, check out, especially the Pitch Perfect series.
The Movie Review
Anyway, Cocaine Bear is some of the most fun I have had in a movie theatre this year so far. I love wacky stuff like this and as someone who always gets a kick out of an animal-going-wild style of movie, this cranks that premise up to 11! If you have seen the trailer, that is pretty much what you get here.
The movie takes place in the 80s and a drug smuggler is getting ready to make a drop-off over the woods in Tennessee. However, something goes wrong, he falls to his death, and tons of cocaine ends up falling into the woods. The crazy thing about this is that it is actually based on a true story, granted, greatly exaggerated, but it is still based on something that happens.
Well, you pretty much know the rest. A black bear ends up ingesting some of the cocaine and develops a taste for it! This leads to the bear ending up going on a rampage and it is freaking hilarious. I was actually very impressed with the special effects in this movie as the bear looked great.
I am so glad that they did not go the PG-13 route with this movie. Cocaine Bear is rated R and that was the right decision for this movie! It let them cut loose and the gore, violence, and crazy stuff that they were able to do because of that R rating is what I feel makes the movie so much fun.
While most of the attention that this movie is getting is all about the bear getting coked out of its mind and going on a rampage, I was impressed that the human characters were given some depth. Yes, the movie is at its best when the bear is getting high and causing chaos, but the subplots around this were way better than I thought they would have been.
There is a solid ensemble-style cast, including the first theatrically released movie for Ray Liotta since his passing (he does have a couple more due out). We have the cops who are trying to stop the bear and we also have some mob-style guys that want their cocaine. It makes for a fun mix and it gives the movie a great excuse to have humans trying to interact with the bear.
Look, Cocaine Bear is not the kind of movie that is going to win any awards and I am sure some stuffy “movie experts” will see it as dumb. However, dumb fun is the best way I would describe this movie. It was hilarious, had some epic and gory kills and it was just so much fun to sit back, stuff my face with snacks, and laugh at.
