357: Cocaine Bear

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[00:00:06] 65. Let's get to Cocaine Bear, which came out early last year I think. I only got around to seeing it just now.

[00:00:16] It's directed by Elizabeth Banks, stars Carrie Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, Oshae Jackson Jr., Ray Leota, Isaiah Whitlock Jr., Brooklyn Prince from Florida Project, which is cool.

[00:00:30] And the synopsis is an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists, and teens converge on a Georgia forest where a huge black bear goes on a murderous rampage after unintentionally ingesting cocaine.

[00:00:44] So I remember when this one was first announced people were like what the hell is this? Like this is absurd whatever just went on and on and on the hype and craze over this coming out was huge.

[00:00:55] And I think it was a decent box office success, got alright reviews better than I think most people were expecting.

[00:01:03] And I had been mean to get around to it for a while, I just never did until this past week.

[00:01:09] And I don't know if it's a hot take, I don't know if there are people who absolutely love this movie or not or what the overall consensus is.

[00:01:17] But I thought this movie was terrible. Like I'm totally fine for a stupid, ridiculous concept like a barren cocaine.

[00:01:29] I'm all for that. I wanted to love this movie absolutely. So I have no issue with this sort of film being made just getting that out there.

[00:01:36] And not only that, Elizabeth Banks someone I love. I think she's hilarious.

[00:01:42] I don't think she's just a great actor in general. And I liked the Charlie's Angels reboot. I didn't love it, but I liked it.

[00:01:50] And I appreciated her trying to pick sort of unconventional projects to direct. I'm all for that.

[00:01:55] But I don't think at the level she's at right now, maybe she was not the right person to make this movie.

[00:02:04] It was so clunky, so awkward. The humor was terrible.

[00:02:09] Like it felt in terms of the tone, the perspective, the delivery that the jokes in this movie which were fairly consistent.

[00:02:18] They really thought that these lines were funny, but it was so not. It was so flat, so lame.

[00:02:27] Like Aiden Ehrenreich who I think is a great actor. I love him in Hail Caesar. I liked him as solo and I've seen him in a few other things that I really like him in.

[00:02:36] He's terrible in this. Really the only person who's not offensive is probably Kerry Russell who's always solid.

[00:02:43] But there's not much done with the concept. It is just a bear attacking people, which is fine.

[00:02:50] But I feel like even the kills 90% of the time are so average and very uninspired.

[00:02:58] I think one of the only sequences that I was interested in was the ambulance chase, which was, you know, that was alright.

[00:03:04] But other than that, it's really conventional kills and the gore is not great. It's very flat lined I feel like for a lot of it.

[00:03:14] And there's so many unnecessary subplots going on that do nothing other than give people an excuse to be there.

[00:03:20] The overarching drug world story with Ray Leota is terrible. I like him, RIP, but really unnecessary.

[00:03:30] The stuff with the teenagers who have been like attacking tourists or visitors is lame.

[00:03:39] I don't want to hate on the movie too much, but I feel like I was checked out five minutes into this movie.

[00:03:45] Like I liked the opening sequence and then after that it was downhill and I was just waiting for it to be over.

[00:03:50] But the pacing is all over the place. The performances and tone are inconsistent.

[00:03:55] Like I'm not totally blaming Elizabeth Banks, but the overall production of this movie really is disappointing considering the concept and the title.

[00:04:07] Like if you are making a movie called cocaine bear, sorry, no offense here. Do it better.

[00:04:13] Because I feel like there is a great movie here with this concept, but with all the plots and other things that were unnecessary.

[00:04:21] It felt like this movie could have been over in 20 minutes. And then because of all those injections, it was an hour and a half.

[00:04:29] So really not a fan of it. Very disappointed would not recommend.

[00:04:34] I mean, I know some people like it. If you'd like it, it is what it is.

[00:04:38] There are plenty of stupid movies out there that I defend that I hate as I always say.

[00:04:41] So, you know, teach their own. But personally really was let down and will not be going back to it anytime soon.

[00:04:51] I'm still absolutely going to watch what Elizabeth Banks directs next because I, you know, she's a great talent, I think.

[00:04:59] And it's okay to have a dud here and there, but maybe fine tune a little bit of those directing skills before you take on something like this that requires a little bit more balance of tone.

[00:05:11] And self-awareness and gore and effects and all that. So maybe just wasn't the right time, right place for her.

[00:05:19] So that is a two out of five.