Family Time is Put On the Line in 'The Mule'

At 88 years old, Clint Eastwood remains one of the most dedicated filmmakers of our time. His presence is always felt in his industry. He's never had more than a 5-year hiatus since he started working, may it be in directing, or in acting, and sometimes both. He's a true pillar in Hollywood and his latest film shows that he's still got it.

Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Just like wine, he manages to make films that get better with time. He definitely shows no signs of slowing down. The Mule is a great example. It has the same touch of Gran Torino, another film where he's the director and the lead. He plays a complicated man with deep-rooted tenderness within. Except here, he's not the grumpy serious old man and he's actually the opposite. It's really refreshing especially compared to his previous cranky and serious roles.

He plays Earl Stone, a 90-year old horticulturist, who has an affinity for flowers and how they bloom to the point where he spends more of his time with his them than his own family. But in no way his attitude shows resentment. Earl is likable and socially charismatic. He is also in love with driving, claiming that he's never had a ticket under his name all of his life. Perhaps, a speculum of his love for his land which applies to both Earl and Clint.

The resentment stays with the women in his life who he often leaves behind. His wife Mary Stone played by the overly-expressive Dianne Wiest, his daughter Iris (Alison Eastwood) whose wedding he missed, and his granddaughter Ginny (Taissa Farmiga) who defends him from his family's bitterness.

His situation is sad, but Eastwood's approach is to see the humor in it. It's hilarious as it is touching, but hidden behind the familial plot lies more complex societal issues which include racism, drugs and the authority. With Earl feeling alone because of his family giving up on him, he finds life in being a mule for a notorious cartel being hunted by the police team of Bradley Cooper, Michael Peña and Laurence Fishburne.

Earl Stone is likable but not a saint. He's racist and sometimes a misogynist, and he gets away with it. He helps a black family stuck on the road and called them "Negroes", he mockingly imitates a Mexican accent, and he deliberately calls dykes 'dykes'. The police is no different. In their investigation, they have their biases against 'blacks' and 'Latinos'. It's a sad reflection of the society and it's hard to pull it over on the sideline.

It does end in a good note though, bittersweet but good. Family still matters most for Earl as it has ever been. Earl was able to redeem his shortcomings even in the last few hours of his wife. Although  it becomes too melodramatic for its own good that it's almost reminiscent to a Pinoy heavy drama, especially with Dianne Wiest's uberly expressive eyes and delivery. It really turned saccharine after a series of punchlines. But I guess they get a free pass because they're old and dying people, despite their exchange of lines to the lyrics of More Today Than Yesterday which is excruciatingly sweet but cheesy. Like Gran Torino, Eastwood fleshes out the heart of his lead and chooses to do what he loves, by also doing what is right. In a way, the ending seems like an image of what he wants in his never-ending career.