In this latter stage of his career as a director, Clint Eastwood has been hit or miss. With his latest, The Mule, arriving on Blu-Ray, DVD and digital download, know this: the film that he also stars in about an octogenarian who becomes a drug mule for the cartel, is a hit.
His previous two, The 15:17 to Paris and Sully, had heaps of potential that never came to fruition and were disappointing. The film prior to Sully, American Sniper, was quite engaging and impactful. The thing about The Mule is it is a film that is firmly in Eastwood’s wheelhouse, as a leading man and as a man behind the camera.
Eastwood is Earl Stone, a man who was not much of a husband or a father. But as a man of business, he was top notch. Work kept him on the road quite a bit and for his ex-wife Mary (Dianne Wiest) and daughter Iris (played by the filmmaker’s real life child Alison Eastwood), it eventually became too much, and Earl essentially became removed from their lives. Now that he is in his 80s, he is trying to make amends. Although, he is broke, his flower business is going under and his home is on the verge of being foreclosed.
An opportunity arises that only asks him to do one thing … drive. He can do that! Unbeknownst to him, he is carrying drugs (and likely weapons on occasion) for the Mexican drug cartel. He is told to pull up, items are placed in the flatbed part of his pick-up truck and he drives it from point A to point B. He is to never look inside the bags. On one stressful occasion that he decides to look in the bags out on the road, as he pulls one of the duffels closer and opens it, he sees bags of cocaine. Just then, a state trooper pulls up behind the old man wanting to offer some assistance. As played out in The Mule trailer, Earl handles the situation brilliantly. But it is a perfect illustration of the crux of the film.
The money starts piling in. Nobody expects an 80-year-old man to be driving drugs around, so the set-up appears to be a win-win for everyone involved. His bank account inches up. His home is no longer in danger of being lost to the bank and there’s a spark in his step that hasn’t been there for years. Both his wife and daughter notice and are simply cherishing the opportunity to have Earl be the man he promised to be long ago.
All good things must come to an end, didn’t someone say that once? Well, for Earl, trouble arrives in the form of the DEA. All this time as we’re being given Earl’s story, Eastwood’s been painting a fuller picture of this tale with law enforcement trying to figure out who this mule is who has been moving a record amount of drugs and money … all under the noses of the Federal Government. Bradley Cooper is Agent Colin Bates; Michael Pena is Agent Treviño and the man in charge of the whole operation is not given a name (LOL) and simply goes by Special Agent in Charge (played by the powerful Laurence Fishburne).
One thing that is always the case with Eastwood-directed movies, he gets good casts!
These two worlds are on a collision course and watching them inch closer together in the most thrilling of ways is one of the great joys of The Mule. But that is not the headline here. The largest joy in watching Eastwood’s latest movie is the relationships that are explored as the film progresses. One cannot help but cheer for Earl to make good on decades of not being there, even for the few years he may have left. With that pep in his step, Iris and Mary are finding joy in Earl’s company, something that hasn’t been there for years. Someone who never had an issue with him and loved him (so-called) warts and all is his granddaughter Ginny (played by the always luminescent Taissa Farmiga). That feels real. Grandchildren tend to overlook faults of their grandparents, or simply miss them completely as they are blinded by that unconditional love that we all emit for our grandparents. Seeing Earl’s relationship with his daughter and wife improve to the point of goodness that it has always been at with Ginny is a fantastically well-handled collective character arc achieved through stellar direction, pitch-perfect acting and of course the source material that provided us the emotional ammunition, screenwriter Sam Dolnick (who based his script on the remarkable true story exposed in The New York Times by reporter Nick Schenk).
Cooper (a veteran of Eastwood’s film American Sniper) turns in his second greatest performance of the year (of course after A Star is Born) as the agent who is just so determined to catch this old man drug mule that seems to be one step ahead of law enforcement at every turn. There are several scenes that are just pure delight between Cooper and Eastwood. One almost feels that these two characters could have been friends, you know if not for that whole drug mule for the cartel thing.
The women of The Mule are also fabulous. Eastwood has always been great directing actresses and this film is no different. In fact, Oscar winner Wiest and Eastwood have such a cinematic spark that I would love to see a rom-com with those two in it after witnessing their movie magic with this tale. It could work! A romantic comedy with two older leads … anyway, I digress.
Eastwood’s bonus features on his home video releases (for films he directs) have always had an impressive amount of insight that shows that the helmer firmly wants to remove the veil and show off the movie magic he extols with each successive release.
Nobody Runs Forever: The Making of The Mule is an informative, entertaining and truly enjoyable behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie. Eastwood’s insight is, of course, priceless, as is the contribution of his producer Kristina Rivera, screenwriter Nick Schenk, as well as actors Ingacio Serricchio (Julio), Andy Garcia (Laton), Alison Eastwood and Cooper. My only complaint about this featurette is I wish it was a tad longer. The almost 11-minute look is solid, but they could have gone deeper with a little more time.
Sadly, that is it for bonus features, save for a music video for Toby Keith’s Don’t Let the Old Man In. What’s puzzling about the music video is it features nothing but scenes from the movie and no singer! Usually, they interject the performer in there somewhere in a music video from a movie! Just a funny observation.
So, there is no more to the bonus features than the behind-the-scenes featurette and the music video. This film doesn’t necessarily require any more, but what would have been nice—particularly with this film, is a director’s commentary track. Also, a look at The Women of The Mule would have been a treat as well. Hey, one can dream.
Film Grade: B
Bonus Features: B