(C) Universal Studios, Lord Miller Productions and Brownstone Productions

Cocaine Bear – Film Review

Cast: Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, Ray Liotta, Matthew Rhys

Director: Elizabeth Banks

Synopsis: After a drug deal goes awry, a stash of cocaine is ingested by a black bear…

Review: There can be any number of factors when it comes to what could be used as a selling point for a particular film. Perhaps, it is the director, or it could be the lead actors, a particular genre, or the attachment of a particular studio. Yet, every once in a while, there comes a film where the appeal does not have anything to do with the talent in front of, or behind the camera. Instead, its unique selling point is based on a premise so absurd and ridiculously insane, and yet somehow is also in part a true story, it simply has to be seen to be believed. This is precisely the case for the latest film by Elizabeth Banks.

The year is 1985 and while attempting to carry out a drug deal, drug smuggler Andrew C. Thorton (Rhys) drops a stash of cocaine from a plane, which lands in the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia. It isn’t long before a considerable amount of the narcotics are promptly consumed by a large black bear, giving it a craving for the drug which threatens to be lethal for anyone who gets in its way. Local drug lord Syd White (Liotta) sends his fixer Daveed (Jackson Jr) and son Eddie (Ehrenreich) to retrieve the drugs before they can be found by law enforcement, who have sent Bob (Whitlock Jr) to retrieve the drugs and apprehend White. Also in the mix are Liz, a local park ranger (Martindale), Sari (Russell), her daughter Dee Dee (Prince) and her friend Henry (Convery) who skip school to head into the woods, which could be a recipe for disaster, particularly when there is a cocaine-fuelled bear is on the loose.

**This animal can bearly believe these emotions she’s experiencing at this moment…**

The truth of the event is upon ingesting the large stash of cocaine, the bear died at some point afterwards, which would not have nearly enough meat on its bones for a feature-length film. Hence, the script by Jimmy Warden uses the central premise of a bear fuelled by narcotics as a centrefold for this group of people who have to negotiate just a little bit more than a big surprise for their journey into the woods. The screenplay attempts to give these characters some backstory to make the audience care about them. In reality, while it does provide this for some characters, it is thin at best for others. The film is self-aware enough to know what the audience is really here for to see a massive apex predator, on some Class A drugs, going on a rampage. Hence, its main goal is to get this group of people into a situation where they are forced to confront an enormous black bear off its face on cocaine and have them fight to survive.

With the surface-level development of some of the characters does feel intentional to a point as this enables Warden and Banks to have some fun with the brutality because, as Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant found, a bear at the best of times is hazardous. Giving it a penchant for expensive narcotics is only going to make things worse, and the film gleefully utilises this by turning the dial up with the gory nature in which some of these characters are picked off. The film walks a fine line between comedy and horror as despite plenty of moments which can be horrifying to watch, it offers up plenty of humourous moments, particularly when the titular bear experiences a comedown after the drugs start to wear off.

The CGI for the titular bear does look a little iffy in places. In addition, despite clocking in at a mere 95 minutes, the film does not feel as brisk as it should, and there are a few moments towards the third act where the pacing is also feeling the aftereffects and experiencing a comedown after the first two acts provided such hilarious antics. However, despite these minor nitpicks, Cocaine Bear knows exactly what the audience wants to see and it does exactly what it says on the tin/package/container/duffel bag from which the drugs were stored to deliver a ridiculously entertaining time at the movies which will leave you feeling high (pun most certainly intended) by the time the credits begin to roll.

The plot is undoubtedly as thin as they come, and the character development is minimal but, it matters not. The filmmakers understood the assignment and Cocaine Bear delivers exactly what you’d expect from its hilariously absurd premise.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood – Film Review

Cast: Matthew Rhys, Tom Hanks, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Cooper

Director: Marielle Heller

Synopsis: An investigative journalist is sent to do a small piece on the popular children’s TV personality Fred Rogers. As the two begin to strike up a friendship, it changes both of their lives forever…

Review: Growing up as children, we all had that one programme that was our favourite. The one that we would watch religiously, and many many times over. For countless upon countless children who grew up in the United States, that programme would undoubtedly have been “Mister Rogers’s Neighborhood.” The star of that show, was Fred Rogers, a figure beloved by millions and one whose impact on the world of Children’s TV, and one journalist, simply cannot be overstated.

The aforementioned journalist is Lloyd Vogel (Rhys) who’s in a rough spot in his life. His wife has just had a child, and his estranged father (Cooper) tries to contact him. Though, Lloyd is absolutely not interested, and firmly rejects his father’s attempts to reconnect. When Lloyd is sent by his employer to do a piece on Fred Rogers, he is extremely reluctant to put it mildly. However through each meeting, the two begin to strike up a friendship that helps Lloyd see the relationships in his life, as well as his job from a wholly different perspective. Through this, it enables him to begin to rebuild the bridges between him and his father.

In terms of perfect casting choices, you couldn’t have picked a more perfect actor to portray Fred Rogers than Tom Hanks. Hanks has proven time after time of his sheer talent as an actor, and once again he’s such a pleasure to watch. He imbues Rogers with such a warm and friendly personality that you can’t help but just fall in love with him and his joyful personality. Opposite him, when you first meet him, Lloyd is the antithesis of joyful. Battling being a father whilst simultaneously dealing with the difficult relationship with his own father. Initially, he doesn’t take on his assignment with Mr Rogers with much enthusiasm. Yet, as his time with Mr Rogers goes on, it completely transforms his life for the better.

There’s one particular moment when the two of them are out in public that could have come across as too saccharine for its own good. However, the moment is so touching and emotional that it should without fail, warm your heart and leave you smiling from ear to ear. For any viewer who may be unfamiliar with Rogers’s show, director Marielle Heller wonderfully recreates scenes from Mister Rogers’s Neighbourhood so that anyone who has never watched an episode can be brought up to speed and appreciate the wonderful work that has gone into recreating these scenes. Given that the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? told Fred Rogers’s story in detail, writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster make the wise choice to tell the story through Lloyd’s perspective, based on the article “Can You Say… Hero?” by the real life Lloyd, Dan Junod.

While Lloyd’s stiffness towards Rogers could grating to some, it’s understandable given the pressure he’s facing. The story is a little predictable in the direction that it goes in. Yet given that such a story is filled with such positivity, is certainly not problematic by any means. It serves its purpose in telling this story effectively. Indeed, in an age where people are becoming more and more aggressive towards each other due to any number of factors, this is a film with an extremely timely message. It can serve as a very strong reminder of what Fred Rogers stood for, that kindness and affection towards not just your neighbour, but for everyone in general, can go a long way towards making society a better place for everyone.

With yet another superb performance from Hanks at its core, in a society that is becoming all the more fraught and divided, this is the film, and in particular a message, that at this moment in time, the world would do well to take heed to.