- Directed by Elizabeth Banks
- Written by Jimmy Warden
- Stars Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson Jr.
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuWEEKeJLMI
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s a little bit of a thin story stretched out into movie length, but it’s so funny and well-made that it’s forgivable. And the humor is balanced with gruesome animal attacks so it has the horror/thriller element.
Synopsis
It’s 1985. A man on an airplane wildly throws packages overboard as credits roll. He then jumps out of the plane, hitting his head and knocking himself out before pulling the chute.
We cut to a couple, Kristoff and Elsa, hiking in the woods. They pass some of the packages from the airplane as well as huge bear prints in the mud. They soon see the bear and take pictures of it acting strangely. It’s beating its head against a tree. The bad-CGI bear soon chases them through the woods and kills Elsa.
We see a news report about a huge drug drop from an airplane, but the man from the plane died on impact. We cut to the cops, who say there’s a lot more cocaine out in the woods somewhere. Detective Bob wants Officer Reba to babysit his dog.
Elsewhere, Daveed meets up with Syd, the head of the drug cartel. They also know that there are a lot more drugs out in those hills. Syd orders Daveed and Eddie to go out there and find the missing drugs. Eddie is so broken up over his girlfriend’s death from cancer that he didn’t notice that the tattoo artist put “John” on his chest instead of “Joan.”
Sari gets a call from the school. Her daughter Dee Dee and her friend Henry have ditched school to go hiking. The two kids immediately find a brick of cocaine. They each dare each other to eat a big spoonful of it, which they try (with no real effect, which is strange). We see the bad-CGI bear behind them; he sneezes cocaine all over them.
Sari comes to the ranger station to look for Dee Dee. Ranger Liz and her boyfriend Peter accompany her on the search. Eddie and Daveed arrive just as they leave. Daveed beats up three criminally-minded teenagers in the restroom before noticing he has a knife stuck in his back. The teens have a brick of cocaine, so Daveed insists one of them lead him to the rest.
Detective Bob calls Reba so he can talk to his dog. Sari, Liz, and Peter find Henry hiding way up in a tree. He says the monster took Dee Dee, and then they all hear the bear in the woods. Peter crawls through some cocaine and then climbs a tree, Liz runs away, and Sari tries to hide.
The bear smells the cocaine on Peter and tears him up while Henry climbs down to Sari.
Liz, along with the two evil teens, opens the door for the bear. Then there’s only one teen— nope— all out of teens.
Two paramedics arrive at the ranger station and find bodies. They soon find Liz and the Bear. The bear chases them, even in the ambulance. [At this point, I say “I don’t think bears can run that fast,” and Kevin says, “They can if they’re on cocaine.” Clearly, he’s right.] All three of the people in the ambulance soon die.
Meanwhile, Eddie, Daveed, and the last hooligan walk through the woods and bond. Bob is also wandering around in the woods, and he soon finds a big bag of cocaine. He also finds Daveed and the others and they have a standoff.
Meanwhile, Dee Dee wakes up in the bear’s lair. Sari runs into Kristoff in the woods, who rants about a “devil bear.”
Daveed, Bob, and the others soon encounter the bear. It passes out on top of Eddie. They watch it eat a great big brick of cocaine. They start to reach an understanding when Syd shoots Bob. Officer Reba shows up to save the day, but it turns out that she’s really working for Syd.
Meanwhile, the bear drags an entire duffel bag full of coke to his lair. Sari, Kristoffer, and Henry arrive at the lair and go inside. They find Dee Dee and a couple of small bear cubs covered in cocaine. Syd, Daveed, and Eddie get there soon after.
The cubs want Syd’s cocaine, but nobody wants to shoot baby bears. Sari gets the rifle, and Syd disowns Eddie, who sticks up for her. Sari and the kids jump off the waterfall, as do Eddie and Daveed. Syd shoots the big cocaine bear before going back for a bag of coke.
The big bear gets a cocaine recharge and climbs up after Syd, tearing him to pieces with the help of the cubs. All three bears roar in victory.
In the morning, Sari, Henry, and Dee Dee ride home on the bicycle. Reba gives Eddie Bob’s little dog. Daveed asks if the dog is on cocaine; it isn’t.
Commentary
This was Ray Liotta’s final film. He did have a full part to play, it wasn’t just a little cameo.
How do you shoot off just a guy’s pinkie and middle finger with only one shot? This is the burning question I’m left with after watching this.
I’ve already mentioned that the CGI bear isn’t going to fool anyone. Other than that, it’s really funny—much better than I would have expected.