'The Mule' Is an Investing, Soulful Crime Drama

Due to the things I heard prior to watching The Mule, I went see this movie expecting it to be the kind of bad that can be fittingly enjoyed in an ironic manner.  To my surprise, I found it to be genuinely good – engrossing, well-paced, and soulful.

Inspired by the real-life story of Leo Sharp, the film follows 90-year-old Korean War veteran and award-winning horticulturist Earl Stone (Clint Eastwood), who finds himself broke and facing foreclosure.  Having spent his life neglecting and disappointing his family, he has become estranged from them, and thus, can’t expect for their help.  With nowhere else to turn to, the desperate old man agrees to perform a drug run for a Mexican drug cartel.  Soon enough, he becomes the cartel’s top mule, moving millions of dollars’ worth of drugs in the following months.  This earns him large amounts of cash as well as the nickname “El Tata.”  Meanwhile, the DEA (Bradley Cooper, Michael Peña, and Laurence Fishburne) gets wind of his successful operations and begins working on uncovering his identity.

This film is extremely investing.  It tells a remarkable story, and Clint Eastwood’s direction and acting potently convince the audience to give it the interest it deserves.

Eastwood’s Earl Stone is by no means a hero, but he’s as likable as other charismatic crooks in cinema like Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort (The Wolf of Wall Street) and Tom Cruise’s Barry Seal (American Made).  But what makes him different from those two is that he’s such an unassuming, elderly character and that he has a poignant redemption arc going for him.

It has heart.  It runs smoothly along its dramatic routes, and never stumbles into being overly sentimental.  And thus, whatever life lesson it tells is clearly stated for the audience.

Lastly, Clint lets his character be politically incorrect in a few instances, and he integrates these moments into the narrative in a gratuitous way that feels like he has put them there just because he wants to and he doesn’t care whoever he offends.  This adds another layer of amusement for me.

Overall, The Mule is a pensive, stimulating, occasionally funny, low-key crime drama film that is quite satisfying to watch.