I Watch Films: Cocaine Bear

 

Cocaine Bear

In 1985 a drug smuggler is dropping cocaine from a small plane; attempting to parachute from it he knocks himself out and falls to his death. He’s been sampling his own product.

This sets in train three series of events. In Tennessee, Bob, a police detective, is in charge of the investigation of the body. He identifies him and, combined with the cocaine, concludes that this was a delivery for St Louis gangster Syd Whyte. Eventually Bob tracks the flight of the plane and heads into Georgia to look for the rest of the shipment.

Meanwhile in St Louis, Syd Whyte sends Daveed to find the cocaine. He takes Syd’s son Eddie, who is depressed after the death of his wife. He’s neglecting his son, who is being cared for by Syd, who is frustrated at trying to run his criminal empire from a kid-friendly fast food restaurant/arcade/mall.

The cocaine has fallen into the Chatachoochee-Oconee National Forest, where a bear has encountered it, torn open the bag and snorted some, and gone on a rampage. This is unfortunate for various weirdos who are in the Forest, a hiking couple, two kids who have skipped school, three delinquents and the park ranger, who is distracted because a wildlife activist she has a crush on is visiting. One of the kid’s mothers arrives to try and find her daughter.

The film moves through various gruesome and absurd setpieces. The bear tears people apart, seeks cocaine, later decides some people are not a danger and falls asleep on top of one. There’s a charming scene where the two kids, finding cocaine, lie about how much they know, tasting it thinking this is how you use it. Mostly though it’s about people accidently wandering into situations that are more dangerous than they expect and then there is an unlikely sequence of them being killed by a bear.

Watch This: Violent and silly mankilling bear film loosely inspired by a real incident
Don’t Watch This: If you’re not entertained by unpleasant people being dismembered by bears