द मूल

I'll keep it short. Not a bad movie, a little slow but just enough to keep you interested. Good acting, funny wise cracks, ending kind of a let down. Still better than 90% of the movie out there. 7/10

Enjoyed this movie directed and starring the great Clint Eastwood. He's aged a lot but still carries huge presence. Good story arc and well paced. Nothing flash or artsy or PC in the storytelling or movie. Good stuff.

Earl Stone (Clint Eastwood) is a man who is ninety years old, broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business. He lives a solitary existence with a few friends. Earl is estranged by his ex-wife Mary (Dianne Wiest) and his daughter Iris (Alison Eastwood), while his granddaughter Ginny (Taissa Farmiga) is celebrating her engagement with her fiancé. Earl was in the Korean war and confronting his old prejudices he is forced to work as a Mule for the drug lords. He then is offered a job that simply requires him to drive. Easy enough, but, unbeknownst to Earl, he's just signed on as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. He does well, so well, in fact, that his cargo increases exponentially, and Earl is assigned a handler. But he isn't the only one keeping tabs on Earl. The mysterious new drug mule has also hit the radar of hard-charging D. E. A. Agent Colin Bates (Bradley Cooper) and agent Teviño (Michael Peña) . Nobody Runs Forever !

Actor/director Clint Eastwood stars as Earl Stone, we are watching a sensational film inspired by a true story in which its message shows us a broody story of old age, personal struggle, faith, redemption, suffering, pain, memories, illness and feelings. Here the maestro Clint Eastwood gives us a film-making lesson from the simplicity of a thought-provoking screenplay. The performance of Eastwood as, gruff retired worker is awesome, he does not disappoint, his presence at the scene is extraordinary. The secondary cast is also magnificent with special mention the two agents: Bradley Cooper, Michael Peña who pursue him . This film along with the previously filmed make that the skill and art of this great director results to be still impressive despite Clint's age.

Main and support cast are pretty good. Clint Eastwood gives a nice acting in his usual style as a ninety-year-old horticulturist and Korean War veteran turns drug mule for a Mexican cartel. Being accompanied by a very good cast with plenty of competent actors , such as: Bradley Cooper, Michael Peña, Laurence Fishburne, Dianne West, Alison Eastwood, Taissa Farmiga, Andy Garcia, Clifton Collins Jr., Robert LaSardo, Richard Herd, among others.

The motion picture produced by Malpaso (Clint's company) was professionally directed by Clint Eastwood , though it gets a little long and has some flaws and shortcomings. Clint Eastwood was in a nice period in which he often used to play to direct competent thrillers during the 70s and 80s , such as : ¨The Gauntlet , Dirty Harry , Magnum Force , Sudden impact , The Black Pool , City Heat , Escape from Alcatraz , Thundelbolt and Lightfoot , Pink Cadillac , Firefox¨ , among others. Clint Eastwood played and directed good Westerns as ¨High Plains Drifter¨, ¨The outlaw Josey Wales¨ , ¨Bronco Billy¨, ¨Pale Rider¨ and ¨Unforgiven¨ . These films along with the filmed in the 2000s as ¨Invictus ¨ , " Changeling" , ¨ Million dollars baby ¨, ¨Mystic river ¨, ¨Gran Torino¨ dealing with a right allegation and relentless denounce against racism and the complex relation between cultures; all of them make that the dramatic force of this great director turns outs to be still breathtaking. Rating : 6.5/10 . The flick will appeal to the completists of Clint Eastwood's long career as a director.

I had never heard of Leo Sharp before watching "The Mule". What a story. Clint Eastwood (who also directed) plays a fictionalized version of Sharp, smuggling drugs for a cartel partly because it enables him to spend the money benevolently. These moral conundrums arise a lot.

It was a little weird in some scenes, seeing Eastwood surrounded by women a fraction of his age; probably wishful thinking on his part. Even so, the movie shows how the old man got more and more into the business, resulting in some tense incidents. In addition to Eastwood, there's good support from Laurence Fishburne, Bradley Cooper, Dianne Wiest, Andy Garcia and Taissa Farmiga.

The 88 year old Clint Eastwood who apparently has enough wits about him to keep a driver's license decides at the suggestion of a guest at his daughter's wedding to do some driving for friends who will pay him well, very well. It's only after a few trips that retired horticulturalist Eastwood realizes its drugs he's hauling and he's making too much money now to quit. In fact he's pulled himself out of some serious debt and bequeathing gifts all around.

Being the devil's advocate you got to say that drug dealers are ingenious in terms of finding new methods of smuggling. Who would expect a super senior citizen who is a few years would probably have his license lifted to be a drug mule. I say that because two of my uncles at Eastwood's age had their driver's licenses lifted by the State of New York. But while they were still driving no drug cop or any other kind would have given him a second look.

Which what happens to DEA agent Bradley Cooper and other law enforcement when they come across Eastwood. But the wiretaps that the DEA has gives them chatter about someone who is becoming legendary for the weight he is delivering.

The Mule is a bittersweet picture about old age and Clint Eastwood drew a lot from his own life and others to give us this portrayal. I should also single out Dianne Wiest who plays his estranged ex-wife and mother of his daughter who loves him, but can't stand his irresponsible ways.

What I love about this film is that we leave Eastwood doing exactly what he was doing as the film opened only in a different location. And he has a degree of security he never had before.

Watch the film to see what I'm talking about. God willing Clint may be acting and directing himself in his 90s.