Clint Eastwood greased the wheels once again to get the crime thriller The Mule out for the holidays, offering a bit of counter-programming to the serious Oscar contenders.
As exciting as any new Eastwood movie is, this one has drawn extra attention for having the master in front of the camera once more. The tale of a 90-year-old drug mule was seemingly too good to pass up, especially since this take on the true story has many of Eastwood’s favorite ruminations. Mounting failures, regrets, and an insecure sense of self all seem to hang over his character, making it feel in line with his growing catalog of films questioning the portrait of the traditional male hero.
Not one to waste time, Eastwood didn’t sign on to the project until early 2018, went into production midyear, and had a cut ready for the studio in September. I suppose filmmaking isn’t much of a mystery when you’ve been in the business over 50 years.
His cachet also means the rest of the cast is star-studded, with Bradley Cooper and Laurence Fishburne playing DEA agents and Dianne Wiest appearing as his ex-wife. Also starring is Michael Peña, Andy Garcia, Alison Eastwood, and Taissa Farmiga.
However this film turns out, the real moral of the story is Clint Eastwood can do whatever he wants in Hollywood, but we already knew that, didn’t we?
The Mule is directed by Clint Eastwood and stars Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, and Laurence Fishburne. It will be released in the US on December 14th, 2018 and in the UK on January 25th, 2019. For international release dates, click here.
Are you excited to see Eastwood acting again? Let us know in the comments!
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