Ever since it was first announced back in April, Cocaine Bear has held a very special place in the heart of moviegoers. A film based on the real life story of a 175lb black bear who ingested a duffel bag of abandoned cocaine in northern Georgia in 1985, Cocaine Bear seemed to have everything that a discerning modern audience would want in a film, which is to say a bear and some cocaine.
That said, there was also a sense that the film couldn’t possibly live up to the title. Cocaine Bear is such a perfect name for a movie that any attempt to flesh it out with actual content could easily be a disappointment. After all, the concept of a bear mashed off its face on cocaine is a lot more fun than the reality of a bear mashed off its face on cocaine. Let’s not forget that, in 1985, a medical examiner determined that the bear had suffered from brain haemorrhaging and failure of the kidney, heart and lungs, which meant that it most likely died terrified and in incredible pain. Which by all accounts would make for a monumental bummer of a film.
