“The Mule”

Clint Eastwood just keeps going. He’s been playing a lot of cranky old timers lately and since he’s what mid 80’s, that makes sense. I didn’t much care for “Gran Torino” or “Trouble With the Curve”, but “The Mule” is a great fit for him. He plays a plan whose worked all his life in the horticulture field and pretty much was never there for his family. When the economy goes internet crazy, his flower business goes belly-up and so has a difficult times making ends meet. He takes a job as a driver for a drug cartel to earn a living and he gradually begins to get an assemblage of his family back and gains a little happiness because he’s able to help people with his earnings. The problem of course is that he’s breaking the law for very dangerous people. There is a charm to this gruf guy. Eastwood’s character, Earl is an old timer who is a bit of a racist and has no filter. He also doesn’t give a shit and won’t take any. He’s a good guy who likes to smell the roses and live life, which is why he took the gig knowing that what he is doing is really really wrong and potentially very dangerous. The film is kind of funny. It’s like Eastwood is winking at the camera. The story is based on a true tale and whenever he pulls into the garage and meets up with the bad guys, you wonder if Old Earl will finally reach his time limit. This is a really good film and a good movie for Clint Eastwood. If he were to never act again, this would be a nice swan song, much like Robert Redford’s “Old Man and a Gun”.

Rating: (***1/2)