The Mule is loosely based on a true story. Regarding a 90 year old mule who smuggled drugs for the Sinaloa cartel. Just proves that real life sometimes can be crazier than fantasy.
Earl Stone is loved and adored by many including some cartel members. Except his wife and daughter. But they have very good reasons for not liking him. He has let them down over and over again. Earl for some reason always fancied being among friends who adored him than being with his family where he felt like a failure. It's never really shown or explained why he felt like that. And in hindsight is something Clint should have included. I guess he didn't want to detract from the core story which is the drug trafficking plot. Naturally that is the most interesting. How did a 90 year old get involved in the drug business? More importantly, why? Was it just money? In one of the scenes he tells Julio ( Lanon's number one guys) that he should enjoy life more. Live in the moment. To which he replies that perhaps Earl is enjoying life a little too much. Of course like with many things the truth lies in the middle of these views. Julio is a little uptight and serious while Earl doesn't seem to take things that seriously at all.
Perhaps it is done to death and maybe it doesn't really mash with the drug plot much I myself loved that we got to see Earl redeem himself as husband and as a father. He might not have been there in the past he was there now. Better later than never. And I agree with this notion. So many people make mistakes in their lives but rarely own up to them or at least attempt to do right by the people they wronged. Most entertaining of course is the smuggling and how relatively easy it seemed for Earl. Most would get nervous or feel guilty. Not Earl. While he certainly understands the gravity of what he is doing like with many things he doesn't get bogged down by what's right or not. If you think about it Earl is a horrible person. Yet can you can't help but feel to root for him all the way.
I think The Mule certainly could have gone deeper into exploring the dynamics between Earl and his family. And perhaps also give us more on the cartel and their use of mules like Earl. Still in a way I was glad that The Mule didn't end up being a gritty and shocking affair. In the end it's quite a beautiful film.
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