Clint Eastwood, approaching 90, directs and stars in The Mule, a messy movie done in by cutesy racism.
Eastwood plays Earle, a horticulturalist and crappy family man who loses his business when people figure out they can buy flowers on the internet. He winds up running drugs in his truck for a Mexican cartel—although he does a few runs before he actually learns what his cargo is. He takes the drug money and tries to resurrect some local businesses and his family life before it all starts to fall apart.
Eastwood plays the character as if his racist Gran Torino character survived, mellowed out a bit and became a drug mule. There are moments in the movie filled with racism which Eastwood strains to make funny—but they fall flat and leave a bad taste.
Bradley Cooper has a smallish part as a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, and he’s easily the best thing about the movie.
The Mule is available via online sources including iTunes and Amazon.com, as well as DVD and Blu-ray.
If you actually paid close attention to both Gran Torino and The Mule you’d understand the characters actually evolve from there old ways. A big lesson in both movies advocates for people to not repeat from the past. A lot of baby boomers fall into that category from which they were raised. As for Clint’s character being a racist, he hires Mexicans, buys drinks for an Asian wedding party and stops to help s black couple with a flat tire. He says the hilarious remarks, because he’s comfortable with these and doesn’t know any better, because of the generation he grew up in. Instead of screaming racism like a typical modern day journalist who just wants to fit in. Sit back, enjoy the movies and keep an open mind.