Clint Eastwood directs this new crime film inspired by a true story, and plays a 90-year-old man who becomes a drug mule for the Mexican cartel.

As an actor and director, Clint Eastwood has been influencing generations of cinema for over half a decade, and he’s still staying strong in his career, having released 2 movies this year, and also starring in the leading role in this one. His performance is the standout of the film, as expected from him, and he carries the film with the force he always brings to the screen, making a complex character who isn’t always likable but you are interested to watch him throughout the events of the film anyway. Eastwood’s direction is also top-notch and reminds us why he’s one of the master filmmakers of our time. The overall plot is sometimes well written but also gets slow and repetitive at times, and at the end, a bit predictable. Like I said, Eastwood’s role really is great, but other known cast members such as Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Peña should have been given more to do in the film. The movie tackles some relevant issues like the stereotypes of certain races, but it only does so briefly and not very subtly when it is addressed. It’s got some good themes by the end as well as some good tension that Eastwood crafts well, like two men on opposite sides of the law sitting next to each other in a restaurant, which is intriguing when both talk as they don’t know who the other is. However, it often falls into familiar crime drama tropes and under-uses some of its best aspects. The Mule can be enjoyed for what it is and Eastwood brings the energy he always does to the film, but it doesn’t quite go above what one would expect from an average true crime drama, even though Eastwood’s directing touch is there and those who have been following his career should definitely check it out. But in the end it isn’t as memorable as other films he’s starred and directed in recent years like Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino.

Based on a true friendship between Tony Lip, a working-class Italian-American bouncer, and Don Shirley, an African-American classical pianist. In the 1960’s, Lip becomes Shirley’s driver on a concert tour through the American South.

We have received a lot of movies in recent years that focus on race and segregation through true stories, and it’s nice to have one on a very small scale that only focuses on a friendship between two people but still carries its point across as effectively. Viggo Mortensen stands out as Tony Lip, a somewhat selfish character who has a heart but also acts however he ants and isn’t afraid to use violence on whoever he deems needs to learn a lesson. Mahershala Ali is also great, as he clearly spent lots of training to learn how to become such a great pianist like his character, but his role is also sophisticated and caring despite facing racism in such a time in the Deep South. The chemistry between the two makes the film so interesting; Mortensen’s character has a narrow view of those outside of his poor Italian neighborhood in New York but learns to become good friends with those he never though he’d meet and become a friendlier person. The contrast between the two is also excellent — not just between race but also between social class — Tony Lip has a more uncultured manner, also having grown up in a poor neighborhood, while Don Shirley is a very elegant and honest man, and this contrast makes scenes like the two sharing a bucket of fried chicken come off as very entertaining. Shirley is a character who seems like he’s in a higher class and given more opportunity to perform than other black artists at this time due to segregation, but even though he never sees himself as any lesser than the white audiences he performs to, he feels that he’s treated as “just another black man” to the moment he steps off stage, as he explains in a powerful monologue that’s definitely the best scene in the film. This breaking of stereotype, a wealthy black man teaching a poor white man life lessons like kindness (and he even helps him write poetic letters to his wife), but maintaining of realism makes the film even more thought-provoking, and the dynamic between the two main characters while delivering themes about interactions between race and social class in the ’60s makes the film a worthy watch, that I’m sure won’t be ignored in awards categories like Picture and Actor.