TEXAS, USA —
COCAINE BEAR
Apparently, the screenwriter of "Cocaine Bear," Jimmy Warden, meant that as a working title, you know, to grab attention in a stack of scripts.
Guess what? The title stuck to what is one of most offbeat, anticipated movies so far this year.
So, here's the blow-by-blow: It's based on the true story of drug smugglers who lost a cocaine shipment in the Tennessee mountains in the 1980s. A giant black bear found it, ingested it and it killed him.
But not in this movie! He gets high and goes on a killing rampage! Elizabeth Banks directs the film. She'd previously directed a forgettable "Charlie's Angels" movie. But this one, you won't soon forget!
The bear may be CGI, but the human cast is a perfect ensemble including Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Margo Martindale. It's also the last movie performance by Ray Liotta as a drug kingpin looking to reclaim his pricey stash. The tone is the just the right mix of humor and gore, and the body count is as high as the bear!
Each encounter is crazier than the next, and the short running time doesn't allow the premise to grow old.
Banks refers to the cocaine as the bear's "superpower."
Is it strong enough to take over Marvel's "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania" at the box office? Doubtful. But you can't deny the try!
(Universal Pictures. Rated R. Running Time 1 hr. 35 mins. In Theaters Only.)
JESUS REVOLUTION
In June of 1971, TIME Magazine featured "The Jesus Revolution" on its cover. (You can now buy it on eBay for a few hundred bucks.)
It told the story of the hippie movement taking Christ to the masses in Southern California.
Kelsey Grammer plays a real-life preacher whose flock is thinning. His daughter brings home a hippie named Lonnie Frisbee who's spreading the word in his own charismatic way. He wins over Grammer, and they partner at his church, to the disdain of traditionalists.
In time, their mass baptisms at Pirate's Cove become legendary. Layered on top is the love story of a young couple who joined the movement and still lead it. They're played adoringly by Joel Courtney and Anna Grace Barlow. Playing "Frisbee" is Jonathan Roumi,e who you might recognize as the face of Jesus in the crowd-sourced phenomenon "The Chosen," filmed in North Texas. (Listen for a couple of fun Texas references in the film.)
One of the co-directors, Brent McCorkle, grew up in Arlington. The other, Jon Erwin, compares "Jesus Revolution" to Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" in its unbridled enthusiasm. I see what he means, but this film doesn't come near that contemporary classic. Will you be spiritually awakened ? Nah. Among the 70s soundtrack laced through the movie is the Doobie Brothers "Jesus Is Just Alright with Me." And so is the movie.
(Lionsgate. Rated PG-13. Running Time 2 hrs. In Theaters Only.)
More movie reviews:
