How can you stream ‘Cocaine Bear’ for free?
Cocaine Bear was always going to drum up conversation. It’s such an ear-grabbing title that one can’t help but be sucked into learning more about the premise. Who gave the bear cocaine? How much cocaine did the bear have? When did the real-life incident that inspired the film take place?
Cocaine Bear is a “throwback” in the best sense of the word, in that it doesn’t take itself too seriously and doesn’t complicate its comically absurd premise. It assembles a talented cast of actors and delivers exactly what you would want out of a movie titled, well, Cocaine Bear. It’s become something of a phenomenon on social media, so the sooner you watch the movie the more you’ll be plugged into the pop culture conversation.
What is Cocaine Bear about?
Yes, Cocaine Bear is actually based on a true story. In 1985, a former narcotics officer named Andrew C. Thornton II threw a duffel bag of cocaine out of an airplane, with plans of retreating it later on. He died as a result of a faulty parachute, however, and a 175-pound American black bear ingested the cocaine before it could be discovered. The bear died, quite gruesomely, as a result of the drug, and was found three months later in northern Georgia.
Admittedly, a film that followed the true story through to the end would be short and a bit depressing. That’s why screenwriter Jimmy Warden took the basic facts and used them to create a fictional story involving local kids, a park ranger, and a group of drug dealers who are desperate to get the duffel bag(s) of cocaine back. All these subplots connect and separate at different points, but the major unifier is, you guessed it, the cocaine bear.
The inclusion of multiple subplots, which includes the ones mentioned above AND a fourth involving a curious police officer, keeps the movie going at a quick pace. There’s never downtime to get bored of what’s going on, and there’s never too much screen time that passes without seeing the cocaine bear in action.
Who is in the cast of Cocaine Bear?
Despite its silly premise, Cocaine Bear is actually a star-studded affair. Keri Russell plays a mother who’s tasked with finding her daughter (Brooklynn Prince) and daughter’s friend (Christian Convery) after they encounter the bear. Matthew Rhys, Russell’s co-star in The Americans, also makes a cameo as the infamous Andrew C. Thornton II in the film’s pre-credits scene.
Familiar TV faces like Margot Martindale and Jesse Tyler Ferguson provide the movie with some of its biggest laughs (and most gruesome deaths), while the drug dealers are played to perfection by O’Shea Jackson, Jr. and Alden Ehrenreich. Both actors have excelled in blockbuster fare, with Jackson appearing in Straight Outta Compton (2015) and Ehrenreich playing the titular role in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), and their chemistry is undoubtedly one of the movie’s best qualities.
Cocaine Bear also marks the final release for legendary actor Ray Liotta. The actor died before he could see the completed movie, but it’s fitting that someone best known for playing a cokehead in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) would go out with something as ridiculous and tongue-in-cheek as this. Cocaine Bear is dedicated to Liotta’s memory.
Where can I stream Cocaine Bear?
Cocaine Bear is currently playing in theaters, which means it’s not currently available on any streaming platforms. The movie did solid business during its opening weekend, pulling in $25 million on a $30 million budget. It will definitely turn a profit if it keeps pace, and the more successful it is, the longer it will take for it to land on streaming.
As it stands, there are two options for watching Cocaine Bear right now. You can either buy a ticket to watch it in theaters or roll the dice and watch it on a streaming site like 123movies. Sites like these can sometimes cause ads to pop up on your computer or laptop, however, so be cautious before you press play.
