The Mule

The Mule suffers from a lack of film-worthy plot points. In another sense, it’s much to do about nothing. If you know the premise and you know how Clint Eastwood acts and directs then you can pretty much guess how the rest of the movie is going to go from the first ten minutes. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case there’s just not enough acting, cinematics, or good writing to excuse the lack of an interesting plot.

Geriatric dude becomes a mule for a mexican cartel. He’s a good guy, but he wants the money. He’s so out of touch with the mexicans not only because they’re drug runners but because he’s so old and they’re all using these new fangled phones and such. The grandpa keeps on being a good guy even though he’s running drugs and probably helping the mexican cartel ruin American lives. But his unabashed goodness even rubs off on the cartel dudes. Eventually the law catches up with grandpa and he is brought to justice honorably without while his dignity remains in tact.

The movie opens up with an already aged Clint charming fellow geriatrics at the local retirement home while back at the wedding he skipped his daughter is left to walk herself down the aisle. A title card moves us 12 years into the future so everybody and their brother can joke about how the next scene will be Clint’s funeral. The next scene is actually a hyper-realistic exchange between Clint and his now-separated daughter at her own daughter’s bridal shower.