Clint Eastwood is still making great movies
at 88 years old, and The Mule has a lot of
interesting things to say about the state
of America and the mindset people have in
modern societies.
And it’s also just another grumpy old-man
performance from Clint where he plays one
of the most fascinating real-life people ever,
and we’re talking about Leo Sharp, who was
one of the most successful drug runners for
the Cartel, like roughly a decade of transporting
goods across Michigan and eventually he got
caught on Interstate 94 in 2011.
He had about 104 bricks of cocaine on his
truck weighing more than 200 pounds.
I know, crazy.
Let’s break this down.
Now Clint doesn’t use Leo’s real name.
Instead, his character’s name here is Earl
Stone but it’s pretty much the same man.
He’s an old-war vet who, for the longest
time, was known for being a great horticulturist.
The movie’s prologue perfectly sums up Earl’s
deep-rooted flaws and the themes of the Mule.
He skips his daughter’s wedding because
he instead wanted to meet up with his friends.
Then, 12 years later, Earl’s business is
being foreclosed and he’s got nothing but
a beat-up old truck.
He’s 90 and you’d think that, hey, you
worked enough you’re probably on death’s
door step, why not rekindle your relationship
with your estranged family.
Fix or at least try to redeem the many mistakes
you’ve made with them, make peace, right?
No, Earl has a strange mindset and when he’s
approached by some dude about transporting
drugs for the Cartel, Earl agrees right away.
So what can we glean from this?
Well, The Mule is a look at how America conditions
people to pursue material possessions and
the stereotypical American dream over valuing
the more precious aspects and moments of life.
Everyone needs to work hard, obviously, but
often that can come in the way of family,
of understanding you who are as an individual
and human being rather than just an employee.
And when Earl is eventually getting caught,
you do wonder if he’s learned that lesson
the hard war.
Or maybe not?
The Mule is a conflicted story in that way,
and this is arguably its best aspect, beautifully
presenting the terribly conflicted mentality
of its main character.
Heck, it’s even a sort of auto-biography
of Clint himself, of the way he’s treated
his family and work, putting his filmmaking
above all else, and how at his age he’s
still working away directing and starring
in films.
For example, he cast his daughter Alison for
the first time here in what is possibly decades.
While Earl is having the time of his life
making millions working for the Cartel, there’s
a subplot happening at the same time with
a few DEA agents, one played by Michael Pena,
the other portrayed by Bradley Cooper, who
gets the most time shine out of all of them.
At first Bradley’s character, whose name
is Colin, doesn’t get much to do, but his
story directly collides with Earl’s and
he finds out just how similar he is to Earl.
Colin realizes he might also be just another
nameless employee for a large entity, slaving
away and doing the hard work all for a paycheck.
But most importantly, all because Colin feels
as if being a DEA agent is his identity, and
he’s nothing more than that.
This also trickles into some of the men working
for the Cartel, who just like Colin and Earl
think that all they are are lackeys for the
Cartel.
This is their purpose in life, and nothing
more.
Is that a good thing or bad thing?
Some might view it as being great, having
a purpose, while others think there’s more
to life than that.
Like I said, Earl and the movie itself present
conflicting and complex ideas and arguments,
but it’s all present in Clint Eastwood’s
signature filmmaking style, which is all about
being as minimalist and subtle as possible.
No fancy camera work here, folks.
But there’s an even another more interesting
wrinkle that gets introduced later on.
And that is when Earl starts using some of
the money he’s earned to help out the local
veterans, rebuild their homes and businesses.
Just like the entirety of The Mule, what Earl
is doing, working for the cartel, is depicted
as a double-edged sword.
He’s doing some bad and dangerous stuff,
but he’s helping people who desperately
need help, those who’ve been neglected by
the government.
So in that sense, can we really judge Earl
and, well, Clint Eastwood at the same time?
The Mule is basically the finale for a long
hard life, one filled with regrets and mistakes.
But at the end of the day, what is the right
answer anyway?
The real Leo Sharp plead guilty in 2013 to
drug conspiracies, was sentenced to three
years in prison.
He was released in 2015 but died a year later
in 2016.
And just like in the film, we’re all left
wondering whether both Earl’s and Leo’s
life were good enough, and whether we can
do any better?
