The Mule
Summary
The Muleending remains one of its most tattle about aspects several age after it was released . Directed by Clint Eastwood , the 2018 crime drama mark Eastwood ’s first star role in six years , andthe movie cease on an introspective note . The slow - sunburn narrative revolve around Earl Stone ( Eastwood ) , an aged Korean War veteran and plantsman who accidentally becomes a mule for a drug cartel . Eastwood was joined by a cast include hisAmerican Sniperco - star Bradley Cooper , Andy García , and Michael Peña . WhileThe Mulewasn’t as praise as intemperately as other film that Eastwood direct , it still became a box - office bang .
While Eastwood earned a name for himself playing audacious cowboy Italian sandwich , his onscreen image as a hero has drastically changed in the twenty-first century with movies likeGran Torino , Cry Macho , andThe Mule . As the cease ofThe Muleproves , a much older Eastwood is content in playing characters sputter to obtain a design in their sprightliness as they ’ve aged . The subplots involving DEA agents and the agonist ’s estranged kinsperson humanize the eccentric further for a well - rounded ( if not tragic ) ending . The fact thatThe Muleis base on a rightful storymakes the terminate all the more heavily - hitting .
A beloved Hollywood icon , Clint Eastwood is a fabled film producer , actor , and conductor . Here ’s every movie he ’s directed , ranked spoiled to best .
At His Heart, Earl Is A Good, Moral Man
The Muleending establish up to a tenseness - construction sexual climax when Earl draws the combine ’s ire as he extend to meet his fail wife Mary in a hospital in the middle of a worthful drug deal . Even as the combine ’s ruthless boss Gustavo save him , the DEA catch up to him andEarl has no selection but to go to jail . But he gets a chance to pay off himself in a test where his lawyer pleads to the judge to show Earl mercy , as he is an elderly beautify state of war warhorse who did n’t kill anyone while work as a drug scuff .
However , it ’s Earl who goes against his own attorney , interrupting her arguments and plead shamefaced to all charges against him . Earl ’s entree finally leads him to a federal prison judgment of conviction . Earl is a morally unsloped man — he scarcely bankrupt any dealings principle during his interstate drive adventures — and it ’s well-defined that Earl is burden by his guilt .
In his eyes , the good way to redeem himself for his criminal action and lack of relationship with his family is jail time . Doing the right thing give Earl a sentience of peace , andThe Muleends with him repay to horticulture .
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Does Earl Finally Reconcile With His Family?
He Gets The Work-Life Balance He Always Wanted
Earl Stone ranks among one ofEastwood ’s dear performances in movies he has aim , part because of the ironical humor and genial nature that Eastwood emulates while playing the character . But beneath Earl ’s favorable position lie an worked up subtext hint at in a scene when he run into DEA Special Agent Colin Bates ( Cooper ) at a dining compartment , advising him to equilibrate his workplace with his personal life , and that “ first position should be family . ”
Thus , it ’s ironic thatEarl ultimately reconciles with his estranged fellowship when he goes to pokey . alone attached to his horticultural work , Earl select to labour off for foresightful space with his flower instead of spending clip with his loved 1 . This oeuvre eventually call for a cost on him as he turns into a lonely drifter . While his least sandpiper as a drug scuff helped provide financial help to his kinsfolk , Earl could hardly form any real connections with either his married woman or daughter .
But as his family continues to support him and hope to visit him in prison , The Muleending ultimately pop the question some hope for Earl . Continuing with gardening in slammer , Earl finally reach a work - life balance that he sought all this time .
A 90-year-old horticulturist and WWII veteran is caught transporting $3 million worth of cocaine through Michigan for a Mexican drug cartel. This is the latest directorial effort from Clint Eastwood, and his second of 2018. It is based on the true story of Leo Sharp, a World War II veteran who worked with the cartel. Eastwood joined the project in January 2018, with Bradley Cooper and other members of the supporting cast signing on in the months after. Production started in June 2018 and wrapped shortly after.The Mulemarks Eastwood’s first acting role sinceTrouble With the Curvein 2012.
What Happened To The Real Earl Stone?
He Did Things A Little Differently Than In The Film
The Muleis directly inspired byThe New York Timesfeature " The Sinaloa Cartel ’s 90 - Year - Old Drug Mule " by Sam Dolnick which evidence the comic real - living chronicle of Leo Sharp . Much like Earl ’s chronicle with the Korean War , Sharp was a World War II veteran who serve as a drug courier for the infamous Sinaloa Cartel . Sharp was similarly involve in the flower business for most of his life and began driving for the trust only in his 80s . He was arrested by the DEA in 2011 .
Like in the movie , Sharp did admit to his guilt , and in the court he addressed the evaluator , saying , “ I ’m really heartbroken I did what I did , but it ’s done . ” But as for whathappened to the real Earl Stone afterThe Muleending , Sharp in reality endeavor to fend off jail time , unlike Eastwood ’s fiber . or else , Sharp propose that he could make up the $ 500,000 punishment that he owed the government by cultivating Hawaiian papaya tree that he described as “ honeyed and delicious . ” The royal court disapprove his supplication andSharp was sentenced to a three - year prison house sentence on May 7 , 2014 .
However , Sharp never completed his time as he was release after a year for humanitarian reasons(as perABC7 Chicago ) . Sharp ’s denial lawyer Darryl Goldberg pleaded for an other handout as Sharp was consider to have only six to nine month left to live . Sharp went on to subsist longer than that , as he passed away at the age of 92 due to rude causes on December 12 , 2016 . The decorated vet was bury in Hawaii ’s National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific . Unlike Earl Stone inThe Mule , Sharp capture to spend his last years a free man .
How The Mule Ending Is Similar To Better Call Saul
The Film Has A Lot In Line With The Acclaimed TV Series
The Muleendingplays out on a passive distinction , much liketheBetter Call Saulseason 6 finish , even though the series finale premiered four years afterThe Mule . While Saul Goodman ( Bob Odenkirk ) is not as honest-to-god as Earl Stone inThe Mule , the disgraced lawyer was mostly confide to his crooked profession and had his own fair share of family trouble .
His life turned around when he partner up with drug cartels like the Salamanca crime mob andBreaking Bad ’s Walter White ( Bryan Cranston ) . But when his past tense finally caught up to him , he too rebuked his own defense ’s arguments and plead guilty on all charges . Earl and Saul each perfectly stand for human guilty conscience . Both protagonists had been through a peck and when a life - change opportunity came around , they were ready to give themselves fully .
But in both case , their interest with law-breaking did n’t necessarily turn them into morally vicious characters . Perhaps that is why they regained their humankind in their final court trial , come clean about their illegal activities . While Earl is felicitous with his horticultural pursuits in jail and hopes to run into his family occasionally , Saul seems to be finally at peace as he calmly serves out his time and gets an emotional visit from his estranged love interest Kim Wexler ( Rhea Seehorn ) .
The True Meaning Of The Mule Ending
A Tragic Hero Seeking Peace
The Mule is ultimatelythe journey of an emotionally - burthen mankind seek purpose . Eastwood ’s tragical hero dedicates his intact life to nothing but gardening and when internet - driven modernization takes aside his job , Earl is reduced to a hopeless and solitary floater .
ButThe Muleending alsoprovides buyback as Earl finally realizes the grandness of his familywhen he is left alone in a strange unexampled world , one where he must operate burner speech sound and course from the DEA . The press of it all and his guilt of ignore his family finally changes him , and even though it come subsequently in sprightliness , he still finds repose .
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Cast
A 90 - year - former horticulturist and WWII veteran is caught enrapture $ 3 million worth of cocain through Michigan for a Mexican drug cartel . This is the latest directorial effort from Clint Eastwood , and his second of 2018 . It is found on the straight level of Leo Sharp , a World War II veteran who worked with the cartel . Eastwood joined the project in January 2018 , with Bradley Cooper and other members of the support cast signing on in the months after . product begin in June 2018 and enwrap in short after . The Mulemarks Eastwood ’s first acting role sinceTrouble With the Curvein 2012 .
