The Mule

Returning in front of the camera after a hiatus of about 6 years, ‘The Man With No Name’ is at the top of his game.

Clint Eastwood directs and stars in The Mule, a movie about a 90-year-old horticulturist turned drug courier, in a role that is somehow perfect for Eastwood’s return. The Mule tells the story of Earl Stone, a broke and lonely family man whose focus in life has seen him turn his family against himself. With apparently nothing better to do, he ends up being a successful drug courier for a Mexican cartel. The story unfolds from here and what happens to him and the people around him make for the rest of it.

The movie is masterly directed, is surprisingly laugh-out-loud in many instances, and is a sheer pleasurable experience watching this veteran actor deal with the cartel and DEA. Clint Eastwood is supported by Bradley Cooper, Michael Pena and Diane Wiest, but it’s an Eastwood movie all along. It may not be Eastwood’s finest movie, but it is a good effort by a legendary actor and definitely worth a watch.

★★★★

Reviewed by Joseph Rana