Parents' Guide to Cocaine Bear

The idea of a coked-up black bear destroying everyone in its way to more drugs is initially novel, but the concept doesn't quite carry the entire movie. Some viewers will likely laugh a lot as the bear gets so aggressive that it starts attacking people -- sometimes because the unfortunate soul also found the cocaine and is covered in its debris. But after a while, Cocaine Bear becomes more of a slasher flick than a comedy, and the blood spray, brain splatter, torn limbs, fallen fingers, and accidental shootings start to mute the laughter. Plus, it's hard to invest in characters who exist solely to feed the same punchline (the bear loves cocaine! the bear will kill everyone in its way!) over and over again.

The most compelling subplot is between Daveed and Eddie, the latter of whom is a rare find in pop culture. The adult son of a drug kingpin, he not only wants out of the family business, but also wants to be left alone to grieve the death of his wife. And Martindale is likely to be a crowd favorite as gun-toting park ranger Liz, who had hoped the day would end with a romantic moment with the clueless parks service manager (played by an always-amusing Ferguson). Russell's formulaic "not without my daughter" story arc is bolstered by the goofy young Convery, who plays Dee Dee's best friend. And Sari's human "mama bear" character is a necessary foil to the actual bear, who's always on the hunt for more of the cocaine to eat. Banks and writer Jimmy Warden milk every inch of humor from the titular pitch, but the bear's manic drug-induced antics leave little for the human characters to do other than die in a bloody, if occasionally funny, manner. Ultimately this movie is an entertaining gag that grows a bit tiring by the 10th shot of viscera and gore.