Produced and directed by 88-year-old Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood, The Mule is a fairly relaxed if unevenly paced crime drama. Based loosely on the The New York Times Magazine feature called The Sinaloa Cartel’s 90-Year-Old Drug Mule, the film tells the tale of a 90-year-old Korean War veteran named Earl Stone (Clint Eastwood) who unexpectedly falls into the contraband trade with the Mexican drug cartel.

While the real life Leo Sharp, who became a drug courier for the Sinaloa Cartel, was sharper (no pun intended), the script by Nick Schenk makes him out to be more naïve. This isn’t as easy to digest. Early in the narrative, after learning that Earl has lost his farm, home, and is looking for work, we note that he has landed a mysterious job where he has to carry a few bags on a long drive to a location where the items are replaced with a large wad of money for him. Oddly enough, we the viewers seem to realise what business Earl is involved in before himself.

Watching the film you feel like no 90-year-old could be that wide-eyed. However, if you suspend your disbelief, you’ll have an easier time watching an occasionally heavy-handed melodrama that’s desperate to make a man trading in poison, likeable. I say trading because, even after discovering what his job entails, Earl carries on, perhaps because he is unlikely to find any other work that will allow him to have multiple threesomes in between jobs.

Although The Mule isn’t as charming, engaging, funny or as clever as some of Clint Eastwood’s earlier films, it does have its moments

Clint Eastwood certainly feels like he was meant for this role of a determined and flawed old man trying to right the mistakes and make up for the lost opportunities of his past. His endearing performance as the hurting veteran, desperate not to feel unemployed and obsolete in a fast-changing world is almost enough to make us feel sorry for his character.

The women in Earl’s life include his ex-wife Mary (Dianne Wiest), his estranged daughter Iris (Alison Eastwood), and his granddaughter Giny (Taissa Farmiga). All three were wronged by Earl when he was younger, and The Mule shows us that this drug money will go a long way to rectify things. There is also a side plot with the DEA task force that features recognisable actors such as Bradley Cooper (Colin Bates) and Laurence Fishburne as the boss. Some of the scenes involving the DEA ramp up the suspense, but others are strangely clumsy and hence unbelievable.

Clint Eastwood certainly feels like he was meant for this role of a determined and flawed old man trying to right the mistakes and make up for the lost opportunities of his past.

Of course, there is also the cartel; some of whom befriend Earl in scenes that are weirdly sweet. They are led by their boss Laton, who is played in an odd performance by Andy Garcia as if playing a character from the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Both as an actor and director, Clint Eastwood has had an outstanding career, with dozens of classics. His latest work has been a bit of a mixed bag though, with Sully (2016) flying high but The 15:17 to Paris (2018) screeching to a halt. The Mule is his first film since the excellent Gran Torino (2008) where he’s taken a lead role in his own film. Truth be told, The Mule isn’t as charming, engaging, funny, or as clever as Gran Torino. It has its moments, but sort of just moves along doing its own thing. In spite of being just par for the course, I did enjoy it. After all, it may be the last time we see the iconic talent on the silver screen.

Rated R for language throughout and brief sexuality/nudity

Published in Dawn, ICON, January 20th, 2019