Film: The Mule

Midweek movie!  Not always worth watching, or something I haven't seen - but this week, it was The Mule, which sounded interesting enough, and I hadn't seen. This is another of the films directed by, and starring, Clint Eastwood, who - since he reached a certain age - has seemed to find a wealth of material about elderly blokes. This film is based on the true story of an elderly man who has some Latino fellows working on his farm. He's short of funds though - the farm is mortgaged, the bank is foreclosing, and with his granddaughter getting married, he'd love to help out, and as he's been estranged from his family for years (Dianne Wiest plays his ex-wife, and it's so long since I last saw her, I couldn't put a name to her), this'd be the perfect opportunity to reconcile with them. So when one of the Latino chaps passes him a phone number, related to a job opportunity, well..

It turns out that they just want a nondescript fellow, such as himself, to carry some stuff for them in his truck. Apart from the fact that they have to teach him how to text, it's quite easy - and very lucrative. So he does it again. It takes him a few trips before he even becomes curious as to what he's carrying - and is shocked to discover large quantities of cocaine. Well, he's very good at his job, excellent at deflecting police suspicion, and is old enough not to arouse suspicion, in general. But how's he gonna fare with the hardnosed drug cartel he's now part of?! On the other side of the fence, we have Bradley Cooper as a DEA field agent, and Laurence Fishburne as his boss, hot on the cartel's trail.

It's a truly interesting story - and what an anachronism, this elderly guy hanging out with guys for whom machine guns are a tool of the trade. Clint is as watchable as ever, and the film held my attention throughout, as I waited to see what was going to happen. A good watch, recommended - and very non-judgemental, of course, on the role of the drugs mule.

For Saturday, Cultureseekers finally announced their quiz - and wow, this is what you might call my specialist subject! The British Royal Family (1980 to Present) is one I might reasonably expect to do well in..