Review: The Mule

Earl Stone, the 90-year-old horticulturalist and Korean war veteran that Clint Eastwood embodies in his latest film, The Mule, is such an Eastwood character that one could easily believe that the role was written especially for him. Yet Earl Stone is based on one Leo Sharp, a real-life figure who came into public consciousness as the least likely drug mule, who made numerous runs for a branch of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel.

The film begins in 2005 as Earl collects another trophy for his hugely popular buds. He's a product of his time - charming, casually racist, prioritising work above family. As his ex-wife Mary (Dianne Wiest) points out to their daughter Iris (Eastwood's real-life daughter, Alison), he's missed all the milestones in her life, why should she expect that he'll show up to walk her down the aisle? Indeed, when the film flashes forward 12 years later, he and Iris are estranged, though her daughter Ginny (Taissa Farmiga) is more affectionate and forgiving.

Earl has fallen on hard times - his home and garden about to be lost to foreclosure - so he's more than interested when he's approached to "just drive" to El Paso to make a delivery. With his spotless driving record and his old age shielding his from suspicion, he's soon making drive after drive, earning enough money to pay for Ginny's wedding and education and also to renovate the local veterans' home. In a separate but parallel narrative strand, DEA agents Bates and Trevino (Bradley Cooper and Michael Peña) have been tasked with stopping the cartel's deliveries to Chicago, so it's only a matter of time before their paths collide with Earl's.

The Mule once again finds Eastwood ruminating on his favoured themes of regret and forgiveness in his admirably unfussy and elegant style. There's a strong sense that this is particularly self-reflective work, one that questions how the driving need "to be somebody out there" resulted in sacrificing the people that mattered most. As Earl himself says, "You can buy anything, but I couldn't buy time." Yet, for all of Eastwood's personal and professional vitality and the film's occasional insightful socio-political observations, The Mule feels lacking and rudderless and not as emotionally resonant as it could and should have been.

The Mule

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Written by: Nick Schenk; based on The New York Times' article "The Sinaloa Cartel's 90-Year-Old Drug Mule" by Sam Dolnick

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, Taissa Farmiga, Alison Eastwood, Michael Peña, Andy Garcia, Laurence Fishburne, Dianne Wiest, Ignacio Serricchio, Jill Flint, Clifton Collins Jr.