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The Mule- Clint Eastwood

LosIllini

By LosIllini
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LosIllini

LosIllini 91

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Still working in front and back of the camera at 88.   Legend.

Warner Bros. made a surprise announcement last month when it revealed Clint Eastwood’s latest directorial effort, “The Mule,” was finished and ready to be released in December. The movie is Eastwood’s second directing project of the year, following “The 15:17 to Paris,” but it’s notable for bringing the 88-year-old back in front of the camera as an actor for the first time since 2012’s “Trouble With the Curve.”

The Mule

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pyrohornIII

pyrohornIII 4824

Posted
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I have to wonder if he felt he was a little like the lead, in spending all his time away from his family, working and being in the spotlight.

 

It wasn't a bad movie, but there were some holes I felt

Spoiler

Why did he have to buy the splashiest truck?  That thing screamed drug money, like an escalade.

Why didn't the cartel insist he switch vehicles after every few runs?

He walked in with all that cash to get his house out of foreclosure and the bank took it, no questions asked?

Why did the cartel let him make that run solo after they found him after 10 days on the lam?  I really expected they wouldn't find any drugs in his truck, that the cartel would have taken it when they beat him.

 

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Celery Man

Celery Man 21021

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The premise is a guy (who was a moderately successful horticulturalist, which meant... being.. on the road and away from his family a lot, and also just forgetting about important events... and thus, divorce and out of his daughter's life) is approached by a dude at his granddaughter's engagement party to mule drugs between New Mexico and Chicago.  Cause, he's a cautious driver and I guess an unlikely person to be pulled over (until he replaces his old pickup with a Lincoln Mark LT after the very first run, imo).  And that's... the hard part about muling drugs.  Getting it from New Mexico to Chicago.  And of course, he gets hooked on the money (to help out his friends and family of course) and becomes kinda embroiled in some cartel stuff and meanwhile Bradley Cooper and Kiki Camarena are trying to hunt this new mule down so that they can appease their overlords at the DEA.

Zoomed back 200 yards, the premise is OK.  Maybe a different take on Breaking Bad, with an old guy instead of a milquetoast loser.  But every single detail about it is flimsy, there's no real... moment or takeaway or transformation.  There's no action (which makes sense with a 90 year old star but seems like a lie based on the trailer), even the racist jokes don't really contain jokes.  The overall movie is a nothing, but it's filled with a bunch of scenes/details/choices/dialog that would make sense in either a student film, or a film made by a 90 year old.  Some people may find it moderately enjoyable, this thing would a) never have been made and b) would be getting uniformly panned if it wasn't Clint Eastwood.  I'm not sure if it is getting uniformly panned, but it's not a good movie.

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Scraps

Scraps 13585

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8 hours ago, pyrohornIII said:

I have to wonder if he felt he was a little like the lead, in spending all his time away from his family, working and being in the spotlight.

 

It wasn't a bad movie, but there were some holes I felt

  Reveal hidden contents

Why did he have to buy the splashiest truck?  That thing screamed drug money, like an escalade.

Why didn't the cartel insist he switch vehicles after every few runs?

He walked in with all that cash to get his house out of foreclosure and the bank took it, no questions asked?

Why did the cartel let him make that run solo after they found him after 10 days on the lam?  I really expected they wouldn't find any drugs in his truck, that the cartel would have taken it when they beat him.

 

In case anyone doesn't know....his daughter in the movie is his real life daughter Allison Eastwood

 

Not saying that proves your theory, but just fyi 

Edited by Scraps
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Celery Man

Celery Man 21021

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why would the head of a drug cartel meet a drug runner face to face for no reason whatsoever?

they did the whole rigmarole of setting up a drop, but then as soon as he completed it and before he moved the truck, the guy came up and knocked on his window and said good job.  do these guys... understand... why they are doing the things they are doing?

why would they put millions of dollars or products loose into the back of a truck belonging to an old man they know nothing about and is reaching the age when people typically lose the ability to drive?

what is it about the new mexico to chicago segment of moving drugs around that makes it so important relative to, say, crossing the international border?

was he a horticulturalist just to set up a pretty meh line about day lilies and how they bloom for only a day?

was he on the road all the time because he was personally delivering flowers all over the country in his pickup truck?

when he missed his daughter's wedding, was that alzheimer's kicking in or did he just not give a fuck?

how does his granddaughter know this super trusting guy who is in good with the cartel?

he was married to his wife for 10 years ~50 years ago.  what is up with them never having made peace and moving on?  especially since she apparently has almost no questions about how he's coming up with all of this money out of nowhere

how much money did his granddaughter need to complete cosmetology school, and is that what a graduation ceremony from a cosmetology school typically looks like?

did anyone say anything to Clint when he demanded yet another close shot of a thick booty during the party scene?

how did they find Clint on the highway?  were they just driving around and looking for Lincoln pickups all across America, or was he back on the route or something?

the whole blocking off a highway/30 squad cars/helicopter - typical for stopping a drug mule?

did they ever decide if the snitch proved his worth?

when Clint had his new cartel handlers with him and they were watching him through binoculars at his motel with some floozies - was Clint picking up hookers/lot lizards this entire time?

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lateshow

lateshow 1308

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1 hour ago, Vic Mackey said:

Saw this yesterday with a date. We both enjoyed it but for what it was. A typical Clint Eastwood movie that seemed to have the same feel of Gran Turino. It didn't blow me away but if you go in with the realistic expectations for what it will be, it's good. 

Oh shit! How much did you spend at the snack bar? 

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EastTexan

EastTexan 662

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On December 17, 2018 at 11:27 AM, Celery Man said:

why would the head of a drug cartel meet a drug runner face to face for no reason whatsoever?

they did the whole rigmarole of setting up a drop, but then as soon as he completed it and before he moved the truck, the guy came up and knocked on his window and said good job.  do these guys... understand... why they are doing the things they are doing?

why would they put millions of dollars or products loose into the back of a truck belonging to an old man they know nothing about and is reaching the age when people typically lose the ability to drive?

what is it about the new mexico to chicago segment of moving drugs around that makes it so important relative to, say, crossing the international border?

was he a horticulturalist just to set up a pretty meh line about day lilies and how they bloom for only a day?

was he on the road all the time because he was personally delivering flowers all over the country in his pickup truck?

when he missed his daughter's wedding, was that alzheimer's kicking in or did he just not give a fuck?

how does his granddaughter know this super trusting guy who is in good with the cartel?

he was married to his wife for 10 years ~50 years ago.  what is up with them never having made peace and moving on?  especially since she apparently has almost no questions about how he's coming up with all of this money out of nowhere

how much money did his granddaughter need to complete cosmetology school, and is that what a graduation ceremony from a cosmetology school typically looks like?

did anyone say anything to Clint when he demanded yet another close shot of a thick booty during the party scene?

how did they find Clint on the highway?  were they just driving around and looking for Lincoln pickups all across America, or was he back on the route or something?

the whole blocking off a highway/30 squad cars/helicopter - typical for stopping a drug mule?

did they ever decide if the snitch proved his worth?

when Clint had his new cartel handlers with him and they were watching him through binoculars at his motel with some floozies - was Clint picking up hookers/lot lizards this entire time?

You take movies too seriously.

 I liked it.

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Tom

Tom 2959

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It was entertaining enough.  Glad I saw it at a discount theater.  

I had a lot of the same complaints as Celery.  A lot of stuff just didnt completely add up, but I still enjoyed watching it.

A lot of the acting felt forced and awkward, like you'd see in a low budget film.  And it's strange because there are several established talented actors in it.

The "old man says racist stuff" jokes didnt land like they did in Gran Torino.  Like when he's helping the couple on the side of the road and affectionately calls them "negros" and they corrected him.  That kind of stuff just got an eye roll from me.

I give it a B-minus.

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Nueces River Rat

Nueces River Rat 5566

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We saw this on Christmas night.  It was decent, but not the best Eastwood flick.   You have to take into account he's 80 something years old and he can't do the Dirty Harry or Gunny Highway shit anymore, so he played the grumpy old man perfectly without having to much effort into it.

But yes the Hollywood version is much different from the real life version which is often the case with movies "based on a true story or real life events."  Here's a good NY Times article I read after the movie on what really went down with the real Mule.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/magazine/the-sinaloa-cartels-90-year-old-drug-mule.html

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