Few films hit theaters with a premise that is equally appealing as it is ridiculous. The story of the movie intoxicated bear, which portrays a grizzly bear who becomes addicted to cocaine and who, in his insistence on using more, murders every human being in his path, sounds like nonsense. However, the director Elizabeth Banks manages to add the necessary substance to the plot to make this film a surreal and fun experience.
Incredible as it may seem, this film is loosely inspired by real events. In 1985, police officer Andrew Thornton found drug trafficking the perfect occupation to earn a few extra dollars. One night while he was transporting 35 kilos of cocaine in a small plane, a malfunction in the aircraft and a bad move by the parachute sealed his fate. This is how several packages of drugs were spread by accident on the forested border between the states of Georgia and Tennessee.
While trying to locate the drug, police discovered that a bear accidentally consumed it and died of an overdose as a result. The story itself is curious. However, the magic of the movies could not help but wonder what would have happened if the animal had crossed paths with humans and what would its reaction to the white powder padding be like?
Some time later, the writer Jimmy Warden was given the task of imagining this story as cinematically as possible. He wrote a script with shades of thrillerbut especially with a lot of comedy. intoxicated bear takes as inspiration the genre of slasherbut above all it aims for sitcom and absurdity, to take advantage of all the possible scenarios in which a cocaine-addicted bear can be the great protagonist and villain.
Precisely one of the strengths of the film is that crossover of genres that does not allow us to know for sure what is happening on the screen. Sometimes it is a slasher very nineties, in others it is a thriller detective and in its best moments is a comedy worthy of the pen of the Wayans brothers. It’s that feeling of anticipation and fear of seeing something that will turn out to be nonsense that keeps your eyes on the screen.
Visually it is like any other B movie, without anything special or flashy. The staging devised by the director Elizabeth Banks shines in several moments that will remain in the memory of the viewer. Sequences that will be memorable, not because of their craftsmanship, but because of the absurdity of their content. Whether they are those where the bear consumes a cocaine shot on a dismembered leg, or where it chases an ambulance at full speed. There are moments to choose.
The question is that intoxicated bear It’s a movie that has great moments, but fails to get a good cohesion with all of them. To imagine a circumstantial story around the bear, Warden’s script features an ensemble cast carrying their own stories. Police officers searching for the drug shipment; the criminal gang that seeks to recover its shipment; a mother in search of her daughter who wanders through the forest; the local rangers who are soon overwhelmed by the situation; or a gang of teenagers looking for trouble.
Although each character and each story is moderately interesting, the film strives to give each one its place. It seems like an exhausting task for the writer and director to find a suitable rhythm to drive the narrative lines and make them collide organically. The result is like a collection of sketches similar to those of Saturday Night Live, where each one shines on their own.
intoxicated bear she certainly benefits from a tone in which she never takes herself seriously. But there are also several points where that lightness ends up creating dead moments, or uncomfortable silences in which the laughter of the spectators should fill the echo. In its quest to squeeze the most ridiculous out of every situation, the narrative becomes scattered.
Fortunately, the film is sustained thanks to the charisma of its cast. Especially Margo Martindale (New Girl) and Isiah Whitlock Jr. (Gives 5 Bloods). Veteran interpreters who manage to work with a timing unusual comedy, and capitalize on the surreal of every moment. The sentimental bonus is admiring the late Ray Liotta’s last performance, in a character that both pays homage to and mocks his great roles in gangster movies.
The truth is that intoxicated bear it teeters between well-made comedy cinema and a commercial product that can be forgettable. Elizabeth Banks’ hand is not completely virtuous, as she would have already shown in her previous tapes (perfect notes 2, Charlie’s Angels). However, it is the particularity of its story and the possibility of facing an adventure that escapes the limits of sanity, which makes the film a moderately satisfying experience. The laughs will not be missing, although they could be more.
Luis Angel H. Mora My most stable relationship is with the movies, parties and music. I love writing about cinema, meeting new people and sharing ideas. Idealistic in every way, I guess that’s my Ascendant Aquarian trait.