The Mosley Review: Cocaine Bear
Films like these only have 2 options when executing the true life story. Option 1: The film can keep the 80's setting and play out like a true horror film that is dark, brutal and somewhat funny. Option 2: The film could keep that fun 80's style and go for the ridiculous nature of the story that is so tongue and cheek that it borders on parody while still somehow delivering a fun and somewhat heartfelt story. Well this film tried to take both of those options and slam them together into a cohesive and sometimes mildly funny and bloody horror comedy. Honestly, I don't even know if the director had any idea what type of film they want it to be. The tone was all over the place and the character dynamics don't really have any relevance to the majority of the plot or lack there of. This could've been a fun, brutal and thrilling twist on the real story, but it lacked any sense of empathy or parody that even the actors say for maybe a couple, knew what type of film they were in.
Keri Russell was good in the film as a single mother nurse Sari. I liked that she did a decent job at being brave and determined to find her daughter. Brooklynn Prince was great as her daughter Dee Dee and I loved her playful and genuine excitement to go on an adventure in the woods. Christian Convery was great and hilarious as her bestfriend Henry. I would've loved if the film was all about them surviving in the woods as the bear hunts them down and Sari was trying to find them. O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Daveed was good as he plays the typcial thug sent alongside Alden Ehrenreich's overly emotional character Eddie. The two of them worked really well together, but felt like they were in a different film all together. The legendary Ray Liotta was perfect casting as their crime boss Syd. Ray can be in the most terrible film known to man and he will always deliver and he did that in this film. Margo Martindale is always a joy to see on screen and as Ranger Liz, she was delightful.
The score by Mark Mothersbaugh was decent as the gore started to splash the screen, but after that it was just background noise. The film was stunning to look at and the visual effects used to bring the bear to life were good. This film truly had no idea what it wanted to be. I can't rightfully say that I wasn't amused at some moments, but all of the best moments were actually in the trailer and the trailer delivered the tone of what the film should've been! Honestly, this was just a mess of film that I can't rightfully recommend it even if you're drunk. If you liked the movie or my review of the film, let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
