The Mule: Review by @Kush_Hayes
I missed the premier of The Mule. Another one of those “Kush - Life Gets In The Way” things. But I liked the trailer and was very excited to see it and also wondered how I missed the release date for it. It somehow wasnt on my calendar, it never registered or clicked that it was coming out in that spot window occupied by Spider-Man - which surprisingly people were also unaware of and I had the pleasure of seeing a week early. It was only brought to my attention by my twitter feed filling up with two kinds of tweets:
“The Mule is Clint Eastwoods Greatest Movie.”
Or
“The Mule is Clint Eastwoods Most Racist Movie.”
After seeing The Mule last night I dont agree with either of those statements.
I think The Mule is maybe the most boring two hours Ive spent in 2018. By the way, regardless of what I think, if you intend to see this do not visit IMDb before you see it. The Synopsis for some reason decides to explain the ending of the movie as if this how our story begins. And when I think about the trailer I saw, maybe thats the movie I thought I was seeing?
By the way, again, somehow I missed this within everything, this movie is based on an event that did occur. A 90 year old man, from Detroit, as opposed to the movies Illinois, was working for a Mexican Cartel smuggling drugs across state lines. That man only had one off three fates awaiting him, Ill let you read the article by Sam Dolnik from The New York Times. With the help of Nick Schenk who has written scripts for Netflixs Narcos as other projects, they take the article from the Times and alter it for their benefit to tell their story.
Despite saying that this movie is boring, it also feels incomplete. It feels like scenes are missing. In one case at the end, there is absolutely a scene missing and you cant tell me otherwise. And that scene sits upon a hill of other inconsistencies throughout this movie that can maybe be blamed on editing. This movie is just under two hours, but I wouldnt be surprised if you told me theres a three hour cut in the vaults at Warner Bros.
Scenes are directed well. Actors perform their roles believably. But then there is the writing. When its not repetitive its inconsistent. We have three scenes where the cartel members are adamant about killing Eastwood, and then just change their mind. We have FIVE separate scenes with Laurence Fishburne telling Bradley Cooper he “Wants Busts!”. Two of those scenes dont show any failed operations. Three of those dont show the consequences of those failed busts.
“But Kush, Bradley Cooper isnt the movie.” He is however apart of the story and has more of a role than youd think working along with Michael Pena and their snitch.
Two separate occasions, Eastwood has a gun pulled on him. The first time he’s talking shit like we’re back in Gran Torino. The second time, he reacts like “This is serious now. Im in trouble.”
Earlier I mentioned one public critique is the racism in this movie, and Kids, people who are 90 years old, war veterans or not, theyre going to say some shit you interpret as racist. In some cases as hard as it is to believe, what theyre saying was tolerant 50 years ago. Im not saying your wrong, I am saying you shouldnt be surprised because they’re nearly a century old. But back to the movie, its out of nowhere it does nothing to further the plot, or showcase that hes a racist. For the record, I think the character is more of an asshole than a racist. But again, I found that it served no purpose.
I hate to focus on the negatives, but they were center stage and over powered any positives this movie had to offer.
Forget what I thought I was in store for, forget how it was marketed. What was presented felt unfinished and rushed. And Im giving it Two out of Six Blueberries.
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