Matthew Rhys

According to the news in 1985, 40 pounds of cocaine was dropped from a bungled aerial drug run into the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia in September; the 175-pound black bear that ate much of it was found dead in December. While the action-comedy caper Cocaine Bear is loosely based on that story, screenwriter Jimmy Warden depicts a much different situation – following a giant, cocked-up, apex predator on a rampage through the woods, hunting for as much blow as possible.

It doesn’t really matter who the characters are or what their motivations are, because at the end of the day, this movie isn’t about them, it’s about a bear high on cocaine. We don’t need to care about any of the characters and Jimmy Warden’s script doesn’t really give us room to because it doesn’t matter. The high points of the story are all about the drugged-out bear looking for its next fix and the people are just around to inadvertently give it access to more cocaine and become snacks.