Cocaine Bear

 

The humans in Elizabeth Banks' sketchy horror/comedy Cocaine Bear are meaty ham sandwiches for the title star, a black bear in the Chattahoochee Forest who ingests discarded cocaine from a failed drug transfer and turns into Jaws of the Woods, chasing its next hit and devouring anyone in the way.

Even though Banks' movie, her directorial debut, is based on actual events, absolutely nothing in it is to be taken seriously. One might wonder how many lines she and her team tooted while cooking this gory goulash.

The cast -- headed by Keri Russell as a mother on the hunt for her truant daughter (Brooklynn Prince) and the girl's schoolmate (Christian Convery) -- seems to be intent on riding this ridiculous adventure with all the gusto they can muster before the clock runs out -- as it does for most of them.

It's not unusual for B-flicks like this to be tonally scattered, littered with implausibility -- it's not Shakespeare, after all -- and this picture is no exception. Only Elizabeth Banks, who as an actress has shown a fine comedic sensibility, knows if the stylistic anachronisms (hairstyles and language) were intended goofiness or the result of budget shortages.

In the end, it doesn't matter. Audiences are likely to follow the lead of the admirably game screen performers, including Ray Liotta in one of his last roles before his death last May, and, like the rampaging CGI bovine, simply go with it.