Though Clint Eastwood hasn’t starred in a movie since 2012’s The Trouble with the Curve, he’s been busy as a director, often putting two films in a calendar year. Earlier this year he released the drama The 15:17 to Paris and he’ll close out 2018 with his upcoming drug-running drama The Mule, which sees Eastwood starring in a film he’s directing for the first time in a decade since 2008’s Gran Torino. Warner Brothers has just released the trailer for Clint Eastwood’s The Mule before its release in December, which the studio is hoping gets some Academy Award consideration for its legendary star and director.
Eastwood stars as Earl Stone, an octogenarian who unwittingly finds himself as a drug-runner for a Mexican drug cartel. He’s broken man on the outs with his family and running low on money, so he continues to do the dangerous, illegal work. But there’s no such thing as easy money when dealing with an illicit trade, and Stone must be cautious not to draw the attention of the Drug Enforcement Agency or the murderous cartels whom he’s now working for.
Personally, I’m a bit on the fence about The Mule. Eastwood’s last few films haven’t been particularly good and his work ethic of on time and under budget sometimes leaves films feeling half-baked. Also, Eastwood’s notable conservative politics might have The Mule wandering into some problematic territory with its portrayal of Latinos. That being said, Eastwood is still one of the greats and the buzz surrounding The Mule has been incredibly positive. The only way to know for sure is to see Eastwood’s latest.
The Mule was written by Gran Torino scribe Nick Schenk, so maybe they’ll be able to recreate that late-period Eastwood magic once again. Eastwood has assembled an impressive supporting cast for The Mule, including Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña, Dianne Wiest, and Andy Garcia.
A rugged Hollywood legend returns to the screen when Warner Brothers releases The Mule into theaters on December 14, 2018.
The official synopsis for The Mule:
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.
