Cocaine Bear (2023)

It is 1985 and Andrew Thornton is tossing bags of cocaine from his plane as it flies over Georgia.  Once all the bags have gone out the door, he throws himself out.  In the morning, Thornton is found dead on a driveway, having failed to open his chute.  Meanwhile, in a nearby National Forest, a black bear is on a rampage after consuming cocaine.  Unaware of the murderous drug-fueled bear, Dee Dee and Henry - a pair of 8th graders - ditch school to hike into the woods.  Dee Dee's mother, Sari (Keri Russell) is soon trekking into the woods to retrieve them.  Syd (Ray Liotta) is the drug dealer responsible for the cocaine and there will be hell to pay from the Columbians if he doesn't recover the shipment.  As such, he sends Daveed (O'Shea Jackson) and Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) to retrieve it.  Bob (Isiah Whitlock), a police detective, also heads to the woods to investigate.  Added to the mix are Park Ranger Liz (Margo Martindale), Peter the Naturalist (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), a trio of juvenile delinquents, a pair of medics responding in an ambulance, and a couple on a hike a few days before their wedding.

This is a horror comedy.  At times, it gets tremendously gruesome and graphic.  On the other hand, there are lots of big laughs.  Henry (Christian Convery) gets some great lines.  After watching a man get shredded by the cocaine bear, he comments that he wished he could forget it but suspects that is the sort of thing that stays with a man for the rest of his life.  Having encountered the bear, he climbed a tree.  When found by Peter the Naturalist, he assures the man that bears can't climb trees.  Peter disagrees, saying of course they can!  At which point, the bear starts climbing Henry's tree.

The music is great, having a bunch of hits from the period play in the background.  Many of them have the drug culture as a theme.  The characters are all worthwhile and nicely developed.  The pacing is excellent, the action is terrific, and the bear is awesome.  Elizabeth Banks has knocked this one out of the park.

Very entertaining and highly recommended.  Great popcorn fun!