The Mule

Clint goes full geezer in The Mule

Clint Eastwood's The Mule is an amiable drug cartel feature. This genre is not much remarked upon because we are all walking on egg shells, mostly white, concerning race. The burgeoning genre has, at least, provided many rising and established Hispanic actors (and the usual suspect Gringos) steady work in Breaking Bad, Sicario, The Counselor, Mayans M. C., Narcos, Savages, Cartel Land, Miss Bala, Sabotage, End of Watch, Snitch, Loving Pablo, Machete, Machete Kills, Blow. Traffic, Traffik, 2 Guns, Miami Vice, No Country for Old Men, Maria Full of Grace, Heli, etc. One of Mr. Eastwood's chief thematic interests has been racism, most potently in Gran Torino. The clash of races as a theme in Mr. Eastwood's films rose with the arc of Albert Popwell's roles beginning with Coogan's Bluff. Here, as in his previous films, invective and the threat of violence between the races is omnipresent, but so is a weary tolerance. In The Mule, even outlaws and bad hombres have rights and dignity. Thus, The Mule represents the last gasp of liberal Republicanism.

The Mule eschews most of the anguish and violence of the genre, coasting along on the charm of its star. Eastwood's performance is an extended riff on the ability of grace and fortitude to hold decay and death at bay. Huge chunks of the film have Eastwood singing along to corny, yet heartfelt songs on his radio as he makes his drug runs. The script posits Eastwood's mule as a man who has forsaken his family for his career, a theme Eastwood accentuates by having his daughter, Alison, play his daughter. Ms. Eastwood delivers an effective performance as does Taissa Farmiga as the granddaughter. Despite what Mr. Eastwood may have done to Sondra Locke and countless others, he has provided good female roles since his directorial debut with career work from Jessica Walter, Donna Mills, Genevieve Bujold, Hilary Swank, Frances Fisher, Carrie Snodgress, Judy Davis, Laura Linney and the imperious Sonia Braga, who got to rape Clint in The Rookie. There are more examples, but the point is Mr. Eastwood has shown a receptivity to expanding a female presence in the macho action genre.

Clint has a nice light touch with actors, giving them room to work. This doesn't help when fine players such as Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Pena and Andy Garcia are reduced to playing cutout DEA agents. However, Dianne Wiest and Ignacio Serricchio are able to offer affecting moments. The procedural aspects of The Mule provide the dullest moments of the film. Of course, the DEA will catch old Clint and he will cop to doing time, but the ride is the thing in The Mule. The road movie aspect of the film gives the director a chance to show a vision of Americana that embraces Waffle House, road houses and Dykes on Bikes. The recurrence of musical performances in Mr. Eastwood's films give us a clue to his intentions. Not a director of the first rank and aware of that fact, Eastwood's best films are ballads or jazz-like riffs on themes. The Mule is in the latter category.