The Mule Blu-ray Review

​The following Blu-ray was provided to me by Warner Brothers for review.  Thoughts and opinions are my own.
 
”The Sinaloa Cartels 90yr Old Drug Mule”  was  an article written on June 11, 2014 by Sam Dolnick for the New York Times.  It was about a veteran named Leo Sharp who, when in his mid-80’s started running cocaine for a drug cartel.  The story was fascinating and adapted into the “Mule” which was produced by and starred Clint Eastwood in the title role. It was a hit amongst critics and audiences and went on to gross over 160 million dollars.
 
It’s the story of Earl Stone a former war vet now a horticulturist who specializes in cross breeding flowers.  He owns a small flower ranch and has won multiple awards for his work.  Unfortunately Earl has fallen on hard times and is endanger of losing his business.  Work has made him estranged from his children so he has no one to help him.  One day he is approached by a member of a drug cartel out of Mexico who offer him a chance to be a mule for them. As he’s an elderly man they feel he will be perfect as no one would suspect him of running cocaine.  He accepts the offer and begins working for the cartel.  At first he has absolutely no idea what he is carrying, as for some reason he never bothered to ask.  It’s not until after a few trips he actually looks inside one of the bags and finds a huge amount of drugs.  He doesn’t seem to really mind however as the money is great. The cartel he is working for love him to. They become so impressed by his work they begin giving him more and more and he begins making large amounts of money.
 
He uses his money for simple things at first.  He pays off his debt and buy a new truck, pays for his daughter’s wedding, and even pays to have his local VFW Hall fixed up. He even becomes buddies with many members of the cartel who look at his as a fatherly figure.  Things are going good until during a routine shipment he get a call letting him know his ex-wife is dying,  He goes to speak with her to make amends delaying the delivery he is transporting.  That does not go well with the cartel who have him beaten. It also doesn’t help with the DEA who are starting to become more and more suspicious of Earl.  Bradley Cooper Plays Colin Bates, the DEA Agent assigned to stop the flow of contraband into the area. To be honest as Earl seemingly takes the same path each delivery, and makes many unnecessary stops along the way he begins to arouse suspicion.
 
The film is good and about as interesting as one could ask for.  The story alone is worth seeing as it truly is a fascinating tale of an old man who has no real issue running drugs no matter the danger, or the simple fact it’s illegal Clint does a good job portraying Earl, channeling a bit from his Grand Torino persona.  The only problem is, its nothing new in terms of acting.  It’s a character we have seen him play time and time again.  Cranky old guy finds peace and redemption after tragedy.  Don’t get me wrong he’s fantastic at it, I was just maybe hoping for something a bit different with this film. Cooper does a great job as well, and he really had a fantastic 2018 in terms of acting performances.
 
With a fascinating story, and a great cast The Mule is a must watch.  Warner Brother has done a fantastic job on the transfer in terms of both video and audio.  Its definitely a must buy as the story is so interesting you will start researching the actual case the minute you finish the film.  I highly recommend you watch this one.
 
Overall 3.5 out of 5 Stars!