From director Elizabeth Banks and screenwriter Jimmy Warden, Cocaine Bear is a black-and-white crime comedy that’s a truly mind-blowing ride of hilarious storytelling that defies deep analysis. On the whole, the film, at just over an hour and a half long, avoids the awkward moments that have characterized many recent films of this kind and jumps straight into action.
The original true story that inspired The Cocaine Bear didn’t exactly have a happy ending for the bear, although it was certainly preferred by the people involved. This story only came about after the bear’s corpse was discovered in the woods next to a large amount of discarded drug. There was no rampage, no cinematic carnage. Just a poor, innocent animal whose body failed after ingesting a monstrous amount of this stuff.
Briefly about the plot, a drug smuggler crashes on a light plane flying over the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia. Along with it falls and a huge amount of cocaine. A local American black bear ingests a large dose of this substance and begins to rampage through the forest in a narcotic dope, indiscriminately killing petty crooks, innocent tourists and paramedics.
What is Cocaine Bear about?
So, the main character of the film is the nurse and single mother Sari, whose teenage daughter Dee Dee runs away into the woods on the most inopportune day. There is also the imaginary detective Bob, the drug lord Sid (and his lackeys David and Eddie, who is also his son. At the film’s climax, all of these characters and more gather in the dark lair of a besotted bear, leading to a gruesome ending.
Henry comes to help in the search for Sari. It takes them all day to track down Dee Dee, so she must have gotten to the cave pretty quickly after the initial attack. Then more questions arise, such as why the bear didn’t eat it.
Whatever the case, Sari and Henry’s arrival at the bear’s lair brings a less shocking discovery: the bear itself, previously discovered as a female, has two cubs. And yes, they also gorged themselves on narcotic powder.
Before Sari can get Dee Dee and Henry out of the cave, Sid and his crew arrive. They find a fair amount of the drug hidden under the cubs’ noses, but the main villain is still not satisfied with this. He reminds Eddie of the threat that the cartel he gets his shipments from will come after them if they don’t return the full amount. While this may be true, no one else in the gang seems eager to continue the hunt.
Meanwhile, corrupt officer Reba decides she’s had enough of this ordeal and announces her intention to leave. When Sid points a gun at her, David intercedes. It’s a rather unexpected move, as this most devoted follower of Sid seems to have reached his limit.
In turn, it becomes clear that the bear is not the only mother to be reckoned with, because Sari herself proves to be a real force of nature when it comes to a fight, ready to do anything to protect her lost daughter.
When Sid confronts her, she shows no signs of fear. Even when he starts brandishing the gun, it doesn’t shock her. Especially since Sari gets that same gun in her hands (thanks to a truly mind-boggling chain of events), her unwavering bravery becomes even more evident.
Wanting only one thing – to get rid of cocaine, a bear and an assembled gang of scammers forever, Sari muster up courage. This is a triumphant moment that says there is no greater power than that of a mother fighting for her children.
The meaning of the movie “Cocaine Bear”
In Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear, audiences experience a roar of elation after a bear by the Chattahoochee River eats a ton of cocaine that has ended up in the woods after a drug smuggling botch. It should be noted that the film was influenced by a true story from the 1980s, in which this same bear, pumped up with a mind-blowing dose, decides to spend all this extra energy maiming people in the forest.
But as a result, many people come to its territory, intersecting for various reasons. Sari tries to find her daughter Dee Dee and her buddy Henry, while Eddie and David try to get drugs back for their boss Sid.
The main twist is that the she-bear has two cubs there, causing the short-tempered Sid to lose control. Luckily, Sari and the kids jump into the water below, and Sid’s son Eddie has to take care of David after they jump.
At the same moment, the beast climbs up the rocks and attacks Sid, who gets entangled in his drug duffel bag. After disemboweling him, the mother bear watches as the cubs eat his insides to complete the dark part of the story.
If we talk about the meaning, then at first “Cocaine Bear” seems like a forest game, where the bear dies, refuting the real story, where he did not kill anyone, he just overdosed. But it’s a touching ending, as the bear was later seen frolicking along the river with her cubs before she turned her attention to the spectators taking pictures. This mimics the opening sequence, implying that the trio will once again hunt and kill to stake out their territory.
This speaks to the theme of the family, because the bear was primarily protective of its relatives, and this lesson is spiritually passed on to the survivors. Dee Dee is grateful that her mom came after her after she ran away, confessing that she now wants to spend time with Sari and her new lover. Henry also strives to move forward, feeling like an adult.
Most of all, the film’s message resonates with Eddie, who was broken by his dead wife. This led Sid to try to get him back into the family business. However, Eddie wanted peace, and that is why he did not kill the cubs, since he had a son at home.
The bear incident also reminded David how precious life is, so he was left burning with the desire to be close to Eddie after Sari patched him up. They remember that they are best friends, whether they are involved in the drug trade or not.
Explanation of the ending of the film “Cocaine Bear”
The ending shows that Sid, when everyone else, including his own son, insists that their venture is reckless, he remains committed to his cause. Even without a gun, he doesn’t give up on the plan, so Eddie and David leave him. For a moment, it looks like the villain who personifies the evil machinations of the underworld as a whole might win. But then a clumsily dropped can of Coca-Cola awakens the she-bear, leading to perhaps the most horrifying death scene in a film chock-full of them. As a result, the she-bear tears Sid’s insides, and her cubs feast.
The scene is especially wild considering that Cocaine Bear was the last film Liotta starred in before he died, but according to director Elizabeth Banks, he was a big fan of his absurd role. In turn, Sari pulls Dee Dee and Henry out unharmed, and one of the last shots of the film shows the three of them walking out of the park.
In the enlarged view of the stage, the audience can still hear fragments of a friendly conversation between mother and daughter. Dee Dee apologizes for running away and skipping school, and Sari tells her that she’s just glad she’s safe. Sari apologizes for pushing her new boyfriend over to Dee Dee too soon, but her daughter tells her she’s glad he makes her happy. Dee Dee then says that she has decided to join him and her mom on their upcoming trip to Nashville to see his band perform. After everything these two have been through, they certainly deserve a little vacation.
