Movie Bear Snorts in More Ways Than One

by Tribekah Jordan

Are you stressed about midterms? Going through a break-up? Just seeking a twisted form of escapism? 
Set aside your worries and dive into “Cocaine Bear.”
It doesn’t require you to think for an hour and a half straight. The only responses your brain may muster is “Ha-ha; gross,” or, “I should look away, but I can’t.” 
True-crime junkies will love to hear that this film is based on a true story. Yes, cocaine truly descended from a plane and into a wildlife conservation area. However, director Elizabeth Banks’ depiction has a delightful twist. Characters are strewn about throughout the film like pawns in a chess game. There are two drug dealers who are trying to retrieve the lost substance and are unwilling to give it up so easily, a cop who is looking for the dealers, and a single mom whose daughter brings her friend on a ditch day to the forest at the worst possible time. 
Meanwhile, the bear is ravenous for its next hit. The higher the bear gets, the more deranged it becomes. The events taking place are filled with bloodshed only intended for those who find humor in darkness. In one scene, the bear rips off a man’s limb to do a line of coke on it. 
The real cocaine bear, named Pablo Eskobear, was a 175-pound black bear who ingested cocaine in 1985 and passed away shortly after. In Variety magazine, Banks was quoted as saying “This movie could be seen as that bear’s revenge story.” 
A tale of revenge you won’t want to miss. 

This bear has a buzz. (Universal Pictures)

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