Clint Eastwood’s 2018 crime drama The Mule is currently dominating Netflix’s global streaming charts. According to Flixpatrol, the movie is currently in the No. 6 spot on Netflix’s Global Top 10 movie list, following Netflix originals She Said Maybe, The Wrong Paris, and KPop Demon Hunters in the top 3 spots. While Eastwood never played a traditional bad guy, the movie sets this as his new personal record.
The Mule marks a rare role in which Eastwood’s character does morally questionable things for the sake of family, making it one of the most complex performances of his career. It earned critical acclaim with a solid 70% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a respectable 7.0/10 score on IMDb.
The movie also achieved commercial success, grossing over $174 million worldwide on a $50 million budget. (via Box Office Mojo).
Clint Eastwood Didn’t Initially Intend to Star in The Mule
Eastwood originally did not plan to star in The Mule. It was a fellow producer who suggested that Eastwood himself would be the perfect fit to play Earl Stone, the aging drug courier. During a 2018 interview, Eastwood said (via USA Today):
All of a sudden, I started thinking, ‘Well, it might be kind of fun to play a guy who was even older than me.’
After 2009’s Gran Torino, The Mule is another one of his movies where Eastwood is both directing and starring. In the movie, Eastwood’s character Earl Stone is a horticulturist and Korean War veteran who, after losing his business and facing foreclosure, agrees to transport drugs for a cartel.
The character is estranged from his family, but as he earns money through illicit activities, he tries to mend broken relationships, adding more complexity to his criminal actions.
The cast includes Bradley Cooper as DEA agent Colin Bates, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña, Dianne Wiest, and Eastwood’s daughter Alison Eastwood.
How Faithful Is The Mule to the Real Life Crime Story?
Based on a 2014 New York Times Magazine article, The Mule tells the true story of Leo Sharp, nicknamed “El Tata.” He was a legendary drug courier for over a decade. Sharp was a World War II veteran and a pioneering horticulturist whose flower business failed. It pushed him into drug trafficking.
Eastwood’s character Earl Stone is fictionalized in several ways (via CBR). Stone is a Korean War veteran, while Sharp was a World War II veteran. The movie simplifies Sharp’s long criminal career of drug runs over a few months, whereas Sharp actually worked as a courier for nearly ten years.
Additionally, Eastwood created fictional family dynamics and changed some character names and locations. For example, the movie shifted Sharp’s hometown from Detroit to Chicago.
Sharp was arrested by the DEA and served time in prison before passing away in 2016. The movie leaves the ending somewhat ambiguous, but it stays true to the core of Sharp’s complicated legacy.
In the end, it’s the recent surge on Netflix proves Eastwood’s lasting appeal and ability to tackle complex roles late in his career.
Are you watching Eastwood in one of his most nuanced roles in The Mule? Let us know your thoughts.
The Mule is now streaming on Netflix (US).
