Bad Grandpa

Clint Eastwood truly is one of Hollywood’s great contemporary directors, and one would not be wrong in arguing that he’s more accomplished in the director’s chair than he ever was as an actor, with such movies as ‘The Unforgiven,’ ‘Mystic River,’ ‘The Bridges of Madison County,’ ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ ‘Letters from Iwo Jima,’ ‘American Sniper’ and ‘Sully’ to his credit, even if – like some of the other great directors – he had the rare miss in movies like ‘J. Edgar’ and ‘The 15:17 to Paris’ once in a long while.  At 60 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, his latest entry ‘The Mule’ falls somewhere in between but proved to be one of Eastwood’s more personal and affecting character studies.

 

‘The Mule’ tells the story of Earl (Eastwood), an old geezer and talented horticulturist who loves growing pretty flowers so much that he neglected his duties as a husband, father and grandfather.  When he can no longer support himself (despite his talents) selling flowers because of the god-damned “Internet,” he unwittingly (at first at least) fell into a job as a drug runner “mule” making easy money transporting illegal substances into Chicago for a Mexican drug lord (Andy Garcia), not unlike how Mary-Louise Parker’s suburban soccer mom chanced into her career in crime as a queenpin of marijuana in the acclaimed TV series ‘Weeds.’  He’s not a bad guy really, even if he eventually ran afoul of DEA agents played by Bradley Cooper and Michael Peña.

 

Eastwood delivered one of his most personal and vulnerable performances to date as the flawed Earl, and in the final analysis ‘The Mule’ is ultimately a tale of redemption with a twist of dark humor to ease what would otherwise be a joyless and oppressive movie.  While it is far from his best movie as director or actor, ‘The Mule’ is nonetheless a deeply personal triumph that deserves to be seen.

Grade: B+