Even though I’m not the biggest Clint Eastwood fan, I gotta admire the guy. He continually pumps out movie after movie, where even the bad ones have some compelling stuff in them. The Mule is perfectly enjoyable Eastwood fare, with the director taking a compelling story and putting his little self-servicey spin on it. If Eastwood was out to prove he’s still got the movies, mission accomplished.
Earl Stone (Eastwood) is a loner by choice. Valuing being the center of attention at his flower conventions and among friends, Earl fails to be there for his family over and over again, the final fissure being unable to walk his daughter Iris (Alison Eastwood) down the aisle at her wedding. When the economy takes a downturn, Earl tries to reconnect with his granddaughter Ginny (Taissa Farmiga) for help, but Earl’s ex-wife Mary (Dianne Wiest) sees through that plan. Desperate, Earl becomes a mule for the drug cartel, using his immaculate driving record to move drugs across state lines for cartel leader Laton (Andy Garcia). However, professions like this attract law enforcement, and a couple DEA agents (Bradley Cooper and Michael Pena) are investigating the cartel, putting them on a collision course with Earl.
The Mule feels like Clint Eastwood going through some personal stuff. The Mule should be a tense thriller about a guy who’s perils are closing in around him. Eastwood got all the pieces in place: the clever DEA agents, some shady dealings with who’s running the mob and the restrictive new rules. And there are moments when these pieces converge that are as tense and scary as you would think they would be, like the cartel realizing the only cars getting pulled over are the ones Earl drives. However, the movie gives at least 1/3 of its running time to Earl fixing his family and friends. Some of this is perfectly fun and charming, like when Earl uses his newfound dollars to rebuild the local VFW hall and receives local praise, especially from younger women. However, Eastwood must be dealing with erectile dysfunction or something, because he takes this “lady slaying” to crazy extremes that are so bonkers you just start laughing at what’s going on. It doesn’t have anything to do with The Mule, but ladies, just so you know, Clint’s still got it! But don’t worry everyone, Earl’s got a sensitive side too. As the DEA and cartel are weighing down on him, Earl decides that now is when he needs to take care of his family because…he made his granddaughter sad? The motivation is pretty flimsy based on what we’ve seen from Earl and his neglect for his family. In order to give Earl the time to make amends with everyone, we have to assume that the DEA and drug cartel are unable to find him, with what appears to be unlimited resources, even though he’s carrying like a few million in drugs in his pickup truck, almost single handedly tearing the movie to pieces. But hey, Earl fixed everything with one nice gesture, so that’s good I guess?
If you want to see a better version of The Mule, see The Old Man and the Gun. That movie isn’t as self-serving to Robert Redford’s character as this one is to Clint Eastwood, and results in a fable-like story that Eastwood fails to achieve in The Mule. On the other hand, Redford was never involved in a multi-racial 3 way with some drug cartel women, so jokes on you dude!