The Current Cinema: The Mule (2018)

Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring Clint Eastwood, Alison Eastwood, Dianne Wiest, Andy Garcia. Released December 14, 2018. Running time: 116 minutes.

In "The Mule," Eastwood plays Earl Stone, a 90 year old horticulturist whose business is destroyed by the internet and whose family has estranged from him due to his negligence over years of cultivating that business. In order to generate money, he agrees to do a drug run for a cartel, figuring it would be a one-time deal. Because of his age, his lack of any record, and his complacent manner, the cartel likes his work, while Earl likes the money. However, as he gets in deeper, he goes on bigger runs, and while he makes more money, he also gets involved with progressively worse individuals.

Earl gets the job of being a drug mule due to his having spent a great deal of time on the road over the many decades where he grew flowers and delivered them throughout the nation. This is also the reason for his family conflict, the narrative explaining that he missed his daughter's graduation and wedding, resulting in her refusal to have anything to do with him. Because of his granddaughter, he still shows up at events, and the new money helps fund some of the positive things such as her education. When he finally does put family over business, and leaves his assignment to be at his ex-wife's death bed (for closure) and at her funeral, it gives him a second chance with his family. But it causes strife with the cartel.

Despite a voice that is now quivering a bit, and an unsteady gait to appear doddering, Eastwood's on-screen aging process never completely let go of the tough guy he'd been playing since the 1960s. Now at the level of screen icon, Eastwood is able to use that status to add depth to his characters. When Earl is threatened by a thug with a gun, the Korean war vet responds dismissively with, "I was in battle, you don't scare me!"

Although he was 88 years old when making this film, Clint Eastwood effectively rises to the occasion as both an actor and a director. Eastwood has been acting in movies consistently since the 1950s, and directing since the early 1970s. That he remains active at all in both guises as he approaches 90 is impressive and inspiring. The actor has allowed his screen persona to age, comfortably playing an elderly man unable to comprehend modern culture or expanding technology while as a director, working effectively within the broadening culture and working with the latest technology. His approach, however, is still wonderfully old school. Holding his shots, framing his actors, editing carefully, there is nothing flashy or dazzling, but there is a great deal of genuine skill.

Dianne Wiest, as his ex-wife, resonates with comparatively little screen time, showing both her disgust and her continued affection for Earl. As she lies dying and murmurs, "you were my greatest love and greatest pain," it jars the tough guy's toughness to its core. Andy Garcia comfortably chews the scenery as the wealthy head of the cartel. Earl's work is so outstanding, the drug lord wants to meet him and throws a lavish party. Impressed with the surroundings, Earl asks the drug lord, "who do you have to kill to get a place like this?" Garcia smiles warmly and replies, "Many many men!"

Despite its running time being under two hours, the film does tend to drag a bit at times due to the sameness of the shots of Earl going on his many runs, but Eastwood breaks it up by merrily singing (poorly) along with the radio. Sometimes the balance between the family scenes and the cartel scenes are a bit uneven. And, while the scenes containing them are good, sequences with Bradley Cooper and Michael Peña take a while before they connect to the central part of the narrative. Finally, Lawrence Fishburne is nicely cast as a Special Agent in charge of the operation that Cooper and Peña are investigating.

However, despite any trifling quibbles, "The Mule" is a good movie that shows Eastwood continuing to be effective as both an actor and a filmmaker.