So some spoilers ahead. The movie is based on some fact. And I do believe some creative license was taken. However, this movie started out as The "Get Off My Lawn" movie. Lots of commentary on how the older way of doing things might have been better, cell phones are terrible, the internet is terrible. On the positive side, a theme of the importance of dedication to one's family and not just get caught up in the cycle of working to provide for one's family without any emotional investments does resonate well in the movie. Scenes involving grief are overacted but handled modestly well.
The Mule has a line of dialogue between two characters that summarizes much in the movie. One character comments how another character has lost his filter. The main character says, "I never had one". Not to surprising being that this is a Clint Eastwood movie that he has acted and directed in in his 90s, that in itself is a pretty amazing feat. However, it does demonstrate the point that the distance between Baby Boomers and Millennials is the size of the grand canyon. And I would be remiss to say he handled these themes more successfully in Grand Torino.
The Mule is a mess. First off, this movie is racially tone death and pretty damn sexists which Eastwood appears to relish rubbing in people's faces showing the absurdity of PC culture. However, a scene with the bad guys at a restaurant and another scene where the lead character helps some stranded motorists really pushed it for me as far as racist overtones. And all the women characters are extremely underwritten. The cartel types are so horribly cliched it's almost comical. And lastly the story struggles with the theme of money is bad...but then money is good..because it can bring a family together and then money is bad.
But somehow the movie barely works due to the themes and some of the acting. but it's a long haul and I felt the time. Pacing is pretty terrible. The last act does salvage the movie that up to that point has some crazy plot holes and major lapses of logic. This is lower to middle tier Eastwood.
Competently directly although some shots made no sense. And for a thriller, it lacked a lot of thrills and some of the driving scenes came across like a glorified truck commercial. Eastwood eventually drives a nice truck in the picture and this truck is shot from every angle possible. Maybe the truck is the real star of the movie?
The Mule has a line of dialogue between two characters that summarizes much in the movie. One character comments how another character has lost his filter. The main character says, "I never had one". Not to surprising being that this is a Clint Eastwood movie that he has acted and directed in in his 90s, that in itself is a pretty amazing feat. However, it does demonstrate the point that the distance between Baby Boomers and Millennials is the size of the grand canyon. And I would be remiss to say he handled these themes more successfully in Grand Torino.
The Mule is a mess. First off, this movie is racially tone death and pretty damn sexists which Eastwood appears to relish rubbing in people's faces showing the absurdity of PC culture. However, a scene with the bad guys at a restaurant and another scene where the lead character helps some stranded motorists really pushed it for me as far as racist overtones. And all the women characters are extremely underwritten. The cartel types are so horribly cliched it's almost comical. And lastly the story struggles with the theme of money is bad...but then money is good..because it can bring a family together and then money is bad.
But somehow the movie barely works due to the themes and some of the acting. but it's a long haul and I felt the time. Pacing is pretty terrible. The last act does salvage the movie that up to that point has some crazy plot holes and major lapses of logic. This is lower to middle tier Eastwood.
Competently directly although some shots made no sense. And for a thriller, it lacked a lot of thrills and some of the driving scenes came across like a glorified truck commercial. Eastwood eventually drives a nice truck in the picture and this truck is shot from every angle possible. Maybe the truck is the real star of the movie?
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