Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O’ Shae Jackson Jr., Ray Liotta, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Brooklynn Prince, Christian Convery, Margo Martindale, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Kristofer Hivju, Hannah Hoekstra, Ayoola Smart, Aaron Holiday, J.B. Moore, Leo Hanna, Kahyun Kim, Scott Seiss, Matthew Rhys, Shane Connellan, Conor Lambert, George Kerslake, Allan Henry.

Thanks to the internet we can allow ourselves to feel our mouth drop in astonishment as we watch footage of humans find ways to embarrass themselves when in the habitat and space of the natural world. People who wonder why they cannot just suddenly break years of sensible thought by cuddling a wild animal and then being pecked at, limbs possibly broken, or even mauled to death because they suddenly believe that they will not be harmed in the process.

Human incursion into this world does not stop at wrecking their environment, of our questionable superiority in the face of overwhelming deniability, we also have shattered the illusion that we are in no way complicit of bringing the feral out of order. However, whilst Elizabeth Banks’ finest work to date as a director alludes to the dark comedy aspect in which the viewer is treated to the spectacle of a strung out-drug hooked bear and is asked to play along, what can actually be seen in Cocaine Bear is a sizeable warning that humanity is the greater threat to the environment, our hedonism and pursuit of proving that self-indulgence is a match for a beast; and whilst the occasional smile will guaranteed by the bear’s antics, we have introduced an apex predator to a stimulant that is dangerous as hell.

Cocaine Bear on the surface is a dark comedy, Keri Russell and Alden Ehrenreich in their respective roles provide excellent backdrop to the narrative based on a true story of a misjudged cocaine drop over American wilderness, and in which an inquisitive ursine gets more than it bargained as it becomes addicted to the white powder;  and yet by digging deeper we can visualise the core of the rotten absolute we have become, how life is cheap and for the amusement of others, and our responses to that which should repel us.

The star is ultimately the bear in question, brought magnificently to life by Allan Henry, and as the danger unfolds, as people die for human folly, so we empathise more with the untamed creature who has been corrupted by the human influence; and as it becomes more addicted, so the death count, so the so-called amusement, escalates.

A film that is enjoyable, but for reasons that perhaps we should be wary of, even ashamed at our impact on wildlife, and one that might actually serve us well to watch and learn the lessons of our hedonism.

Ian D. Hall