The Mule | Rotten Tomatoes

The Mule

R

Released Dec 14, 2018

1 hr. 56 min.

Crime

Drama

TRAILER

for The Mule: Featurette - The Legacy Continues

List

70%

193 Reviews

Tomatometer

66%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Broke, alone and facing foreclosure on his business, 90-year-old horticulturist Earl Stone takes a job as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. His immediate success leads to easy money and a larger shipment that soon draws the attention of hard-charging DEA agent Colin Bates. When Earl's past mistakes start to weigh heavily on his conscience, he must decide whether to right those wrongs before law enforcement and cartel thugs catch up to him.

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Premiered May 14

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Critics Consensus

A flawed yet enjoyable late-period Eastwood entry, The Mule stubbornly retains its footing despite a few missteps on its occasionally unpredictable path.

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Dave G

Eastwood grunting through another bad movie.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/22/24

Full Review

Katie Q

I was surprised to find this movie pretty funny and suspenseful

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/04/24

Full Review

Howard H

Slow and steady. The ending is quite enjoyable.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/14/24

Full Review

Alec B

The main thrust of the plot isn't anything special but Eastwood seems to be using it to examine his own personal failings which gives the movie a deeply sad undercurrent.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/08/24

Full Review

Aditya B

This movie was one of the best directed movies Ive seen, enjoyed every single moment plus eastwood and cooper in the same movie lol thats enough already

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/01/24

Full Review

Yash B

"The Mule" is a very good film that I feel has the potential to be a great one. The premise is solid and I found myself interested to see where the movie would go. I did feel the movie was a bit repetitive and sometimes the social commentary felt a bit in your face and not that subtle. I still feel that this is a movie that has something to say with some tense moments that kept me on the edge. Clint Eastwood is one of Hollywood's legends and the fact that he can still act and direct with as much skill as he does in this movie is very impressive. Overall, it is a good movie that I think flew a bit under the radar when it first came out and I am glad I got around to seeing it.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/26/23

Full Review

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Clint Eastwood

Director

Clint Eastwood

Earl Stone

Bradley Cooper

Agent Colin Bates

Laurence Fishburne

Special Agent in Charge

Michael Peña

Agent Treviño

Dianne Wiest

Mary

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The Mule: Featurette - The Legacy Continues

1:52

The Mule: Trailer 1

2:24

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Peter Rainer

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

I think that there's a sweetness to some of the film... There is a certain self-criticism built into the role as it goes along.

Sep 12, 2019

Full Review

Roxana Hadadi

Pajiba

The Mule's greatest flaws are its expectedly racist and sexist undertones, but Clint Eastwood's latest directorial effort is also just extremely boring.

Feb 7, 2019

Full Review

Mark Kermode

Kermode & Mayo's Film Review

I was entertained up to a point.

Jan 29, 2019

Full Review

Denise Pieniazek

Puesta en Escena (AR)

In The Mule, Eastwood demonstrates, through excellent handling of both the formal and the narrative and with his characteristic poignant bold dialogues, the generational and racial differences that make up this cultural “breeding ground” that is the USA.

Rated: 9/10

Jan 12, 2024

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

It’s all about a man running from his guilt, seeing the light, but still left to reckon with the choices he has made. It’s this primary focus that makes “The Mule” work.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 24, 2022

Full Review

M.N. Miller

Ready Steady Cut

[The Mule] begins to simmer down, rather than boil, while trying to be a family-friendly drug mule film by the end.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 17, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Broke, alone and facing foreclosure on his business, 90-year-old horticulturist Earl Stone takes a job as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. His immediate success leads to easy money and a larger shipment that soon draws the attention of hard-charging DEA agent Colin Bates. When Earl's past mistakes start to weigh heavily on his conscience, he must decide whether to right those wrongs before law enforcement and cartel thugs catch up to him.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Executive Producer: Ruben Fleischer, David Bernad, Todd Hoffman, Aaron L. Gilbert
Screenwriter: Nick Schenk
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Malpaso Productions
Rating: R (Language Throughout|Brief Sexuality/Nudity)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 14, 2018, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 19, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $103.8M
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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