In the middle of Aquaman dominating the box office during the holiday season, a little movie called The Mule has also been making an impression. Here we have Clint Eastwood, deep in his 80s, acting in and directing a film that didn’t get a huge promotional push or awards attention and yet it has grossed $81.1 million to date and garnering $100 million by the end of its run isn’t out of the question. This isn’t a film that needs to be saved by overseas revenue (as of now it doesn’t even have an international release) and it has honestly recouped its $50 million budget because of its appeal to an older audience and, most importantly, that audience truly embracing Eastwood as an actor and filmmaker.
Where I stand with Eastwood as a director is that he has made some great films (Mystic River is one of my favorite movies) and even when he engages in experiments that don’t always work (The 15:17 to Paris) you have to give him credit for taking chances. He isn’t a filmmaker with a signature style like Tim Burton or David Fincher but there is reliability in his work that may be just as important as any visual flourishes. With The Mule, Eastwood shows once again that he’s a competent director and storyteller. There are some pacing and tone issues and it definitely has its flaws, but you stick with it because Eastwood keeps you consistently involved as an actor and director. For those that say you’re not viable after the box office once you’re older should look no further than Clint Eastwood. He’s the reason The Mule keeps you invested and he’s the reason the film largely succeeds.
The plot of The Mule sounds like it could only be pitched in a Hollywood meeting but the story is inspired by true events. Leo Sharp was an American World War II veteran and renowned horticulturist who became despondent from financial problems with his flower business and was subsequently approached by Mexican laborers at his Michigan farm who solicited him into transporting narcotics for the Sinaloa Drug Cartel in Mexico. Sharp’s success in eluding the detection of law enforcement for over 10 years while transporting thousands of pounds of cocaine catapulted him into urban legend among drug traffickers who knew of his exploits. Sharp used a Lincoln pickup truck to transport between 100-300 kilograms of cocaine at a time from the southern U.S. border to Detroit, Michigan. The cartel also utilized Sharp to transport drug proceeds in excess of two million dollars per return trip from Michigan to Arizona in the same pickup truck. In October 2011, while in possession of 200 pounds of cocaine, then 87-year-old Sharp was arrested by the Michigan state police during a coordinated arrest operation led by the DEA.
In the film, the name has been changed from Leo Sharp to Earl Stone (Clint Eastwood) but the basic facts of the true story remain. The added layer to the film, and why it has a surprisingly potent emotional core, is the family element. Earl, judging from early scenes, has never quite been there for his family in the ways he should have. He has a troubled relationship with his ex-wife Mary (Dianne Wiest) and an even more complicated one with his daughter, Iris (played by Eastwood’s real daughter, Alison Eastwood). The one relationship that he has that seems to unwavering is that with his granddaughter, Ginny (Taissa Farmiga). She believes in him despite numerous examples in which he has come up a buck short. The complicated family matters juxtaposed with his unexpected new occupation, make for compelling story threads and actually keep dramatic tension high, even though there isn’t much action to speak of.
There’s nothing heroic about Earl, but in Eastwood’s 38th film as a director, he makes the character as likable as anyone could ever imagine. Earl begins innocently enough, following a tip from a member of his granddaughter’s wedding party about a well-paying job as a truck driver. Earl has devoted most of his adult life to cultivating prize daylilies, which he has shipped from state to state in the back of his beat-up pickup truck. Once Earl discovers what he’s really transporting, we still root for him to continue because his heart is in the right place. Earl is the kind of old man that says what’s on his mind and isn’t quite in touch with what’s going on in today’s world (when the cartel members ask him if he knows how to text, he has no clue and in other scene involving him changing the tire for a black couple and he refers to them as Negros, you know it’s not because he’s a bad guy, but because he’s living in the past and hasn’t caught up to the present). Earl is likable despite his shortcomings and that’s a testament to Eastwood’s performance.
The Mule works more in its moments rather than a film as a whole and I was ok with that. The scenes involving the DEA agents played by Bradley Cooper and Micheal Pena trying to locate “The Mule” aren’t particularly exciting because they’re very by the numbers and honestly, any scenes that don’t involve Earl in some way, don’t register on the same level. It’s not to say the DEA Agents, particularly Cooper’s Colin Bates, aren’t important. Cooper and Eastwood have a scene late in the film at a diner that works very well and actually shows a bit of the real-life affection that the two probably have in each other (Cooper led Eastwood’s American Sniper and I’m sure he was an inspiration on his own directorial debut, A Star Is Born). It is an example of a moment that really works and keeps you invested in the story. Another unlikely bond is between Earl and his newly appointed handler, Julio (Ignacio Serricchio). What starts as a contentious relationship turns into one with some kind of respect and I honestly wish that Nick Schenk’s script would’ve spent more time with this relationship because it sort of abruptly ends as its beginning to become interesting.
The family scenes prove to be even better than the scenes depicting the drug trafficking. There is an honesty in how they are performed and written and it features some strong turns from those involved. Dianne Wiest does solid work as Earl’s ex-wife, a woman clearly hurt by Earl’s past transgressions but still showing some of the love she clearly has for him. They have a scene late in the film that I won’t give away here but it’s truly heartbreaking. I also though Taissa Farmiga was solid as Earl’s granddaughter and truly conveyed the undying love she has for me, despite his flaws. Lastly, even though a ton of dialogue isn’t exchanged between Earl and Iris, I think having his real-life daughter play her added some power to their scenes where words didn’t need to be spoken.
Before The Mule was released, a lot of us were concerned that reviews were coming in late and that this could be a rare Clint Eastwood stinker but I’m glad I was wrong. The Mule is by no means perfect but it’s a testament to who Eastwood is as a filmmaker. I’m not sure how many films he has left in him but The Mule proves he’s still got it and can stand alongside all the young filmmakers who dominate the business today.
