Cocaine Bear (2023) & Boston Strangler (2023) Reviews

Cocaine Bear (2023)

Directed by Elizabeth Banks

Starring: Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, Ray Liotta

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
It is loosely inspired by the true story of the “Cocaine Bear”, an American black bear that ingested nearly 75 lb (34 kg) of lost cocaine.

My Opinion:

I thoroughly enjoyed this. But it wasn’t good. I absolutely love horror comedy & this was unfortunately very weak in comparison to the really great movies we’ve had in this genre. It could’ve used a lot more comedy & stronger characters.

But, dammit, I still got plenty of enjoyment out of seeing a bear high on cocaine and a couple of moments did get a laugh out of me. With this great of a story & movie title, it’s just a shame the movie wasn’t the brilliant masterpiece it could’ve been. I’m giving it a half point more than it probably deserves but… it’s a movie called Cocaine Bear for crying out loud. With a bear covered in cocaine on the poster. I have to give it an extra half point just for that (plus I like Keri Russell).

My Rating: 7/10

Boston Strangler (2023)

Directed & Written by Matt Ruskin

Starring: Keira Knightley, Carrie Coon, Alessandro Nivola, Chris Cooper, David Dastmalchian, Morgan Spector

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
It is based on the true story of the Boston Strangler, who in the 1960s killed 13 women in Boston.

My Opinion:

Thought this was a bit too good for straight-to-streaming. Weirdly, the one genre I tend to dislike the most is “murder” – specifically movies based on true crime murders (serial killers especially) or inspired by them. It leaves me left out of a lot of conversations when most people love watching true crime stuff on Netflix. And I may be the only person, certainly in the film community at least, who doesn’t love The Silence Of The Lambs & never even finished watching Zodiac. 

However, I liked this movie far more than I was expecting despite it being in this genre. It may be because it didn’t dwell or linger too much on the murders and wasn’t too graphic. It was more from the viewpoint of these two female reporters trying to cover this story & of course encountering difficulties being women in that profession back in the 1960s. The mystery was intriguing, too (I knew nothing of the true story). Am a bit confused by the somewhat low rating on Letterboxd as I would think true crime fans would still like this one based on it being a fascinating murder mystery. Maybe some just don’t like the story being told through these reporters? I liked that approach & liked this more than some films in this genre that feel far too exploitative when it comes to true crime with real victims.

My Rating: 7/10