The Mule (2018)
Where to Watch
- The original script for The Mule was written over a decade before production finally began in 2018.
- Clint Eastwood originally wanted a completely different ending for the film, but test audiences preferred the one we see today.
- Before Clint Eastwood was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
The Mule is a 2018 American crime drama directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, inspired by the true story of Leo Sharp, a World War II veteran who became a drug courier for the Sinaloa Cartel at age 87. Eastwood plays Earl Stone, a horticulturist whose obsessive devotion to his work has cost him his family β his ex-wife, played by Dianne Wiest, and daughter barely speak to him. Broke and alone at 90, Earl agrees to drive packages for a cartel operation and proves so reliable and inconspicuous that his loads increase dramatically, earning him hundreds of thousands of dollars that he uses to help his community, reconnect with his family, and enjoy life.
Bradley Cooper plays the DEA agent tracking the cartel's transportation network. Clint Eastwood's performance was a quiet meditation on regret, aging, and the belated recognition that no achievement matters if you've lost the people who love you. The Mule earned $174 million worldwide on a $50 million budget.
