The Mule (2018)

Just saw this for the first time and loved it. Clint Eastwood is a national treasure. - JW

Clint Eastwood stars as Earl Stone, a man who is ninety years old, broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he is offered a job that simply requires him to drive. Easy enough, but, unbeknownst to Earl, he's just signed on as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. He does well, so well, in fact, that his cargo increases exponentially, and Earl is assigned a handler. But he isn't the only one keeping tabs on Earl. The mysterious new drug mule has also hit the radar of hard-charging D.E.A. Agent Colin Bates (Bradley Cooper). And even as his money problems become a thing of the past, Earl's past mistakes start to weigh heavily on him, and it's uncertain if he'll have time to right those wrongs before law enforcement, or the cartel's enforcers, catch up to him.

From IMDB:

Clint Still Makes Kick-Ass Movies!!!

Since Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, alias 'El Padrino,' established the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1980s, filmmakers have been obsessed with the notorious Mexican drug cartels. "Scarface" (1983) is perhaps the earliest Hollywood gangster film to depict the cartel and its ominous reputation. At most, 70 films have been produced about the cartels since the mid-1990s. The latest entry in the Mexican drug cartel genre is actor/director Clint Eastwood's "The Mule" about the legendary 87-year old Leo Sharp, nicknamed 'El Tata,' who smuggled record amounts of cocaine for the infamous Sinaloa Cartel. Unfortunately, after a decade of running drugs from Texas to Michigan, Sharp's luck dried-up, and the DEA finally nabbed him with 200 pounds of coke in his truck. Sharp served a year in prison, before authorities released him because he was dying. Although this isn't the first film about a drug smuggler, "The Mule" represents a milestone for Clint Eastwood, who had retired from acting after the baseball scouting drama "Trouble with the Curve" (2012) with his son Scott Eastwood. Like all his movies, Eastwood plays a genuine character of distinction. In the World War II espionage opus "Where Eagles Dare" (1968), Eastwood wiped out dozens of Hitler's henchmen. In his popular "Dirty Harry" thrillers, he wielded the biggest handgun in the world. In 1974's "Thunderbolt & Lightfoot," he blasted a safe open with a 20mm cannon. In 1979's "Escape from Alcatraz," Eastwood portrayed Frank Morris, the only convict who escaped from 'the Rock.' In "Firefox" (1982), he played a Vietnam veteran with PTSD who hijacked a top-secret Soviet fighter/bomber because he was the top pilot for the job. Clint Eastwood plays characters who loom larger than ordinary mortals. Similarly, when he landed the lead in "The Mule," he cast himself as the world's oldest drug smuggler. Hollywood appeals to the young, the sexy, and the beautiful, because the core demographics range between 2 to 11 years and 25 to 39. Rarely does a movie about an octogenarian attract multitudes. Although it isn't the most white-knuckled, high-octane, adrenaline-laced blockbuster out there, "The Mule" provided the 88-year old Eastwood with another role of singular distinction. Thus far, this $50-million Warner Bros. release has earned virtually $100-million dollars. Longtime Eastwood and fellow octogenarian Robert Redford, best known for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," recently starred in the true-life tale of a bank robber in "The Old Man and the Gun," but Redford's movie faded away without fanfare.

"The Mule" depicts the struggles of a senior citizen whose flower farm has gone belly up, and his decision to transport illegal narcotics for a Mexican drug cartel. Apart from changing the protagonist's name from Leo Sharp to Earl Stone and making him a Korean War rather than a World War II veteran, this leisurely cross-country road trip seen through the eyes of a smuggler sticks to the facts. In an interview, Eastwood said little was known about Sharp. Scenarist Nick Schenk, who wrote Eastwood's best oldster epic "Grand Torino," drew on newspaper writer Sal Dolnick's New York Times article "The Sinaloa Cartel's 90-Year Old Drug Mule." My chief complaint is the dreary, fictionalized, family background story that fleshes out Earl Stone's sketchy character. His ex-wife abhors him, and his daughter never forgives him for missing her wedding. Meantime, Eastwood and Schenk emphasize Sharp's eminence as a horticulturist who hybridized 180 official daylily varieties. Surprisingly, Clint manages to slough off his tough guy image to convincingly portray the acclaimed flower farmer. Daylilies dominated Leo Sharp's life, and busloads of daylily buffs visited Sharp's flower farm. Incidentally, Sharp's flowers later graced the Rose Garden at the White House during President George H.W. Bush's administration. Sadly, Sharp's flower business withered when he refused to shift from a traditional print catalog to an Internet catalog. During those years when he created hybrid kinds of daylilies, Sharp traveled around the country, attending flower conventions, and often speaking at them.

When "The Mule" isn't lumbering down the highways from Earl Stone's perspective, the film shifts gears to introduce the DEA and present the agency's efforts to make busts out of its Chicago office. DEA Agent Colin Bates (Bradley Cooper of "A Star Is Born" ) joins the Midwest office, partners up with DEA Agent Trevino (Michael Peña of "Chips" ), and they recruit an unwilling cartel insider, Louis Rocha (Eugene Cordero of "Kong: Skull Island" ), as a snitch. Indeed, they threaten to expose him to the cartel as their informant unless he agrees to cooperate with them. Eventually, with Rocha's information, Bates and Trevino learn about the elderly but invincible smuggler. Although they set their sights on catching Earl, the sly old codger eludes them at every turn. Earl impresses cartel kingpin Laton (Andy García of "Smokin' Aces" ) enough that he invites him to a party at his palatial residence in Mexico. García spends most of his time on-screen shooting skeet. Cartel henchmen grumble to him that Earl refuses to follow cartel timelines and makes too many unscheduled detours. Indeed, Earl behaves like Robin Hood with the ill-gotten gains he gets from smuggling. He saves a local diner from closing, and he stops during one trip to help a stranded African-American family change a flat tire. Word comes down from high-up to stop indulging Earl. A new regime of murderous cartel heavyweights takes over, and they threaten to ice Earl if he doesn't toe the line. Finally, Rocha's snitching the closes the dragnet around Earl, and the inevitable occurs.

"The Mule" comes with a crime-doesn't-pay message. Despite his advanced age, Eastwood still commands our attention, and his scenes at the flower conventions provide comic relief. One of the running jokes is Earl does a great impersonation of actor Jimmy Stewart. Earl Stone encounters several suspenseful situations that will make your skin crawl with dreadful anticipation. Meantime, the star & director never lets the pace slacken for a second in this 116-minute, R-rated biography. Mind you, "The Mule" proves that Clint Eastwood hasn't lost his kick.

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