2018’s The Mule, directed
by Clint Eastwood.
Starring Clint Eastwood, Dianne Wiest, Alison Eastwood,
Taissa Farmiga, Ignacio Serricchio, Andy Garcia, Bradley Cooper, Michael Peña,
Lawrence Fishburne, and Clifton Collins, Jr.
What is it about?
The Mule is the
present day tale of a Illinois based war veteran horticulturalist, Earl Stone
(Clint Eastwood), who with a failing business and a home about to be
foreclosed, decides on a lark to transport narcotics for a Mexican cartel. It
gives him a chance to get his bearings back under him, and to reconnect with
his estranged family. His ex-wife, Mary (Dianne Wiest), daughter Iris (Alison
Eastwood), and grand daughter, Ginny (Taissa Farmiga), all starve for his
attention. With the cartel, headed by Laton (Andy Garcia), taking notice of his
work ethic, as well as DEA agents, Colin Bates (Bradley Cooper) and Trevino
(Michael Peña), will Stone be able to spend time doing what he cares about, or
be forced to atone for his sins?
Why is it worth seeing?
Clint Eastwood has had one of the most interesting careers
in Hollywood. Achieving fame as “The man with no name” in a series of spaghetti
westerns, he eventually started doing everything (directing, writing,
producing, composing)… about anything. From stories as diverse as biopics about musicians, to kidnapping criminals on the road, to gothic noirs, to underdog female boxers, to military snipers, there are few subjects that he
won’t touch. At times maligned for his political views (falling on the side of
the hard right), artistically he has a seriously lefty disposition towards hard
luck losers who always get an A for effort. The
Mule is the 37th feature length film that the 89 year old has
directed, and the true story’s quality falls somewhere in the middle of his
impressive filmography.
Similar to Gran Torino
and Millionaire Dollar Baby, Eastwood
plays a man who’s intentions are good, but hopelessly out of touch with present
day society. With grizzled intonations about how much the internet sucks and bemusement
at how black people don’t like being called negroes, he’s trapped in a time
machine that functions in real time but he is hopeless to catch up with. But
instead of fizzling away to obscurity, everybody he touches has a way of
relating to him, of liking the artful dodger. It’s remarkable to see, how this
man who threw away his family life so he could become an icon of horticulture,
so carelessly figures transporting narcotics is his ticket back into success. It
really doesn’t figure into the humility of the character.
Not that we don’t understand his plight- his house is being foreclosed and his lifelong passion is a financial failure. With the US continuing their perpetually destructive war on drugs (and thus creating an insanely profitable black market)- it’s his ticket back to respectability. But even the cartel (and Garcia’s family head), so typically foundationally ruthless in their quest to dominate, just can’t get over the ol’ guy who is such a straight talker and focuses on what really matters. It’s more than a little odd, from the auteur who never met a first take he didn’t like.
Once you get past how odd the character is, orbiting around Eastwood, we see Cooper, Peña, Fishburne, Wiest, really everyone, all putting in Eastwood performances- efficient and to the point. They anchor the film for when inevitable reality sets in, giving the eventual climax a fair amount of meaning. If you ignore how you get there, it’s a heartfelt and patient journey. I guess narcotics aren’t the only thing the old guy tows in his pickup.
Not that we don’t understand his plight- his house is being foreclosed and his lifelong passion is a financial failure. With the US continuing their perpetually destructive war on drugs (and thus creating an insanely profitable black market)- it’s his ticket back to respectability. But even the cartel (and Garcia’s family head), so typically foundationally ruthless in their quest to dominate, just can’t get over the ol’ guy who is such a straight talker and focuses on what really matters. It’s more than a little odd, from the auteur who never met a first take he didn’t like.
Once you get past how odd the character is, orbiting around Eastwood, we see Cooper, Peña, Fishburne, Wiest, really everyone, all putting in Eastwood performances- efficient and to the point. They anchor the film for when inevitable reality sets in, giving the eventual climax a fair amount of meaning. If you ignore how you get there, it’s a heartfelt and patient journey. I guess narcotics aren’t the only thing the old guy tows in his pickup.
No comments:
Post a Comment