‘Cocaine Bear’ Is a Disaster That’s Too High on Its Own Supply

Cocaine Bear is about a bear that does cocaine, and like its spiritual predecessor Snakes on a Plane, its wild title and premise are just about all that it has going for it. Even the fact that Elizabeth Banks’ film is loosely based on a true story turns out to be inconsequential; the primary failing of this R-rated black comedy has nothing to do with its realism (or lack thereof) but, instead, with its broad, cartoonish, desperate-to-be-outrageous humorlessness. The only snorts it warrants are of the disdainful variety.

Produced by the usually reliable Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Cocaine Bear (which premieres Feb. 24) is remarkable in that the sole idea in its narcotized head is to have multiple men and women scream about how the bear that’s pursuing them is unhinged because it’s high as a kite.

Jimmy Warden’s script believes that asking audiences to repeatedly laugh at its central conceit is enough, or at least that’s the persistent impression one gleans from a story that otherwise features no distinctive characters, funny one-liners, or witty scenarios. To call the proceedings one-note is to oversell their depth; the sheer dearth of ideas in this fiasco is almost impressively profound.

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