COCAINE

BY ALEXANDER COTTRELL Staff Reporter

In the words of the Rick James: “Cocaine is a hell of a drug.”

I didn’t know exactly what to expect as I walked into the theater, but I knew a few certainties. There would be cocaine, there would be a bear, and there would be blood. I was not disappointed.

“Cocaine Bear”, released February 24, and directed by Elizabeth Banks, is the story of a black bear who goes on a cocaine-fueled rampage through a Georgia forest—and it’s a true story. At least, the premise is true. In 1985, drug smuggler Andrew Thornton airdropped dozens of pounds of cocaine in Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest. A black bear consumed this cocaine but died. “Cocaine Bear” imagines what could’ve happened that day.

“Cocaine Bear” was exactly what it said it would be. There’s a bear, it does cocaine, and it goes on a rampage.

The movie follows a variety of people who all have their reasons for being in the forest that day. The first storyline is that a mother is searching for her daughter who skipped school and went into the forest. The second storyline is that two drug dealers have been sent into the forest to recover the cocaine. Along the way, many other characters find their own way into the woods. A park ranger, a couple hiking, a trio of hooligans, a police officer, and more. The amount of characters adds to the humor of the movie. They all have a chance to get in a few comedic scenes before their demise. More characters means more victims and more blood.The bear’s gory attacks will evoke many laughs, but also squirms and screams at the level of violence and carnage. The situations that characters get themselves into are so absurd that one can’t help but laugh at them.

However, the wide variety of characters meant that there wasn’t much character development. Each character can be basically be described in a sentence: she’s a mother, he’s a cop, he’s a drug dealer, she’s a park ranger. However, because Cocaine Bear isn’t trying to win Best Picture, the lack of character development doesn’t affect one’s