The Mule (2018)

A 90-year-old horticulturist and Korean War veteran turns drug mule for a Mexican cartel.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Sam Dolnick (inspired by the New York Times Magazine Article "The Sinaloa Cartel's 90-Year Old Drug Mule" by), Nick Schenk

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Patrick L. Reyes, Cesar De León

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	Earl Stone
Patrick L. Reyes	...	Farmhand #3
Cesar De León	...	Jose
Gustavo Muñoz	...	Farmhand #2
Jackie Prucha	...	Helen
Richard Herd	...	Tim Kennedy
Adam Drescher	...	Computer Daylily Guy
Christi McClintock	...	Daylily Fan
Keith Flippen	...	MC
Alison Eastwood	...	Iris
Kinsley Isla Dillon	...	Younger Ginny
Dianne Wiest	...	Mary
Joe Knezevich	...	Dave
Megan Leahy	...	Bartender
Taissa Farmiga	...	Ginny

Storyline

Clint Eastwood stars as Earl Stone, a man in his 80s who is broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he 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 DEA agent Colin Bates. And even as his money problems become a thing of the past, Earl's past mistakes start to weigh heavily on him, and it's uncertain if he'll have time to right those wrongs before law enforcement, or the cartel's enforcers, catch up to him."

---

Plot Keywords:

singing in a car | directed by star | drug mule | male protagonist | sinaloa | 

---

Taglines:

Nobody Runs Forever

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout and brief sexuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Filmnegah [Iran] Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

14 December 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Mule

Filming Locations:

Saint Paul's Church 605 Reynolds St, Augusta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,509,431, 16 December 2018, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$103,804,407, 14 March 2019

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$97,924,689, 17 January 2019

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Imperative Entertainment, Bron Creative

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (7.1 surround)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the history, the deliveries of Earl lead him in several States and the film follows it in these peregrinations at the wheel of his pick-up. To shoot the exterior shots, Clint Eastwood and a small team drove Earl's two pickups, the old and the new, during a three-day road trip toward the end of filming.

---

Goofs

When the leader of the cartel is first shown shooting skeet, his second shot goes off before the barrel moves to the left.

---

Quotes

Earl Stone: I'll help you negroes out.

---

Connections

Featured in Toby Keith: Don't Let the Old Man In (2018)

---

Soundtracks

La Mula Guarachando
Written and Performed by Arturo Sandoval

User Reviews

Far from a classic, but an OK Eastwood flick

You could say I'm a considerably huge Clint Eastwood fan, I celebrate the man's whole career and love most of his work. As a director, I think he's been solid overall, making a handful of classic films along the way. As watchable as it is, The Mule is not one of them. It could be the last big thing we see from Eastwood's career, and if so, then it's not a bad note to go out on, but it's not his best, and it doesn't have to be. He's proven himself a hundred times over, and this is the film he wanted to make. The Mule is a fine movie to watch, and Eastwood plays a very subdued character, unlike his role in Gran Tarino where he still had shades of his bad boy past. He's softer, he's passive, he's what you expect a man of this age to be...and in that way, he played it perfectly.