The Mule – Not For Everyone.

Clint Eastwood is both a fantastic actor and director but his latest film, The Mule, may not be for everyone.
The movie stars Eastwood as a 90-year-old man who turns to drug smuggling after he loses his source of income.
It is based off the true story of elderly drug smuggler Leo Sharp but Eastwood’s version of the story takes various liberties with the story.
Most notably, his version of Leo Sharp is named Earl Stone instead.
Eastwood does a great job as Stone, portraying a man who, despite being fragile physically due to his age, becomes a successful drug mule.
Along with this, a big focus of the film is how Stone has neglected his family and him coming to terms with this.
Both storylines work very well together, thanks, in no small part, to Eastwood’s performance.
My favourite scene of the film came when Stone has a conversation with DEA agent Colin Bates (Bradley Cooper) and offers him advice about family, without Bates knowing Stone is the drug smuggler he is hunting.
The scene offers great acting from Eastwood and ties in with the themes of the film well.

However, even if you are a fan of Eastwood, this film may still not be for you.
The Mule is a very slow paced film and does not even have an opening hook.
The film begins by showing Earl’s life, long before he becomes a drug smuggler, and while this carries into how Earl eventually becomes the mule known as “Tata”, it honestly made The Mule a little boring to begin with.
It does pick up though once the drug smuggling begins but, even then, the film holds a very slow pace and even has a few pointless scenes like when Eastwood runs into a group of lesbian bikers for some reason.
Some of the film’s messages also get a bit muddled.
For example, The Mule appears to be trying to tackle topics about racial profiling in some scenes but because of the way these scenes are handled it becomes very unclear about what the film is trying to say.
Ultimately though, I will say the film narrowly clears these faults, mostly due to Eastwood and the other actors’ performances, along with most of the themes.
The Mule is a decent film but you will not be missing much if you skip it.