My wife and I rented the recent Clint Eastwood movie, The Mule, last night. I would give it an 8 out of 10. At various points, we paused and talk about the fact that we had no idea where the movie would go. Once it ended the way it did, it was plausible, but I wouldn’t have necessarily predicted that.
I want to make two points, though, one of which relates to economics and the other of which relates to liberty. That’s why they fit on this blog.
Economics (Minor spoiler ahead)
It won’t come as a surprise that Eastwood plays a 90-year-old mule. He’s an old school white guy in Peoria, Illinois and his first dealing with the drug trade is with three young Hispanic guys in El Paso, Texas. They start with a lot of suspicion of him but fairly quickly come to trust him and like him. He even asks, at one point, about one guy’s kid. I found it believable. That’s what happens in commerce. People often start to like the people they’re working with.
Liberty
He is engaged in transporting an illegal commodity to a market (Chicago) where there’s a large demand. The people who buy it (we never see them) want it and pay for it voluntarily. The people who produce it (we never see them) want to do so and sell it voluntarily. He’s among the middlemen.
Obviously, I’m on his side. I don’t want him to get caught. He’s involved in a free exchange. But here’s what I also think. I think that over 90 percent of the people who watch this movie won’t want him to get caught either. It’s true, as a friend I was discussing the movie with today pointed out, that that might be in part because Clint Eastwood plays a sympathetic character. But part of the reason he’s a sympathetic character is that he is engaging in a voluntary pursuit that’s not harming anyone who doesn’t want to risk the harm.
So if you favor the drug war, you might want to ask whether there’s a tension between your view on the drug war and your view on whether Clint Eastwood’s character should be caught.
READER COMMENTS
Matthias Görgens
Aug 4 2019 at 8:52pm
People routines root for objectively horrible characters in fiction, because they are the somewhat sympathetic protagonists. See eg the Sopranos or the Godfather. (And also root against objectively decent characters, just because they are the antagonists.)
That doesn’t give us much evidence about what people prefer in real life.
Ray
Aug 4 2019 at 9:31pm
As Matthias mentions, it really depends on how the character is portrayed by the storyteller.
What if they’d showed the horrible side-effects and suffering of the drugs Clint Eastwood’s character was delivering?
Thomas Colthurst
Aug 4 2019 at 11:31pm
I’ve never seen The Mule, but it is the subject of my favorite movie review of all time. I don’t want to give too much away, but comedians John Mulaney and Pete Davidson discuss the film and how at its essence, it is a “superhero movie for old people”. Highly recommended:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5TEsdb918c
David Henderson
Aug 4 2019 at 11:50pm
Thanks, Thomas. I watched the first two minutes and, noticing that I wasn’t even close to laughing even once, quit watching. This is typical SNL: they think they’re funny and they’re not.
TMC
Aug 5 2019 at 4:10pm
Agreed. I watched further with the same results. With a couple of exceptions, SNL hasn’t been funny since Eddie Murphy.
Sandra Wallin
Aug 5 2019 at 2:24pm
As a fan of Eastwood since he played Rowdy on tv, I try to take in whatever he’s done. So far have enjoyed all as they are well written and directed. Heck I even enjoy the “spagetti westerns” from long ago. Only one point here, your picture is of a burro not a mule.
Robert Lorbeer
Aug 5 2019 at 2:27pm
Likewise, my wife and I watched The Mule, and found it entertaining, and raised some discussion thoughts and questions. Yes, we both did not want Eastwood to be caught, but it seems that the ending is true to character for Eastwood’s film career i.e. a lone wolf standing up for what is right. I do want to point out one thing that I found compelling, and seems to have been overlooked by many: Toby Keith wrote and performed the ending song, entitled “Don’t let the old man in”. He got the idea for the song from a reporter who interviewed Eastwood, who responded to the question about being active and ageing, and how he was able to keep going, Eastwood responded, “I don’t let the old man in”. As a very active person who is approaching 76 this month, I keep reminding myself, “I’m not going to let that old man in!” Robert Lorbeer, BS, MBA, JD, Colonel US Army, Infantry (Ret). Rangers Lead the Way!
LAG
Aug 5 2019 at 2:59pm
Good storytelling is supposed to make you sympathetic with the protagonist. But storytelling is not life, as many English and lit majors learn to their sorrow. Might want to review the fundamentals.
David Seltzer
Aug 6 2019 at 11:57am
Not surprising. Eastwood has libertarian leanings and says he’s a registered Libertarian. I rooted for him all the way through the movie.
Hazel Meade
Aug 15 2019 at 10:37am
I really enjoyed it as well. One nuance is that if he hadn’t been caught, he probably would have been killed, so getting caught sort of saved his life. Also, I liked how he donated so much of the money to improvements in his community, such as renovating the local VFW.
If you haven’t already seen it, I highly recommend Gran Torino, which is my favorite recent Eastwood film.
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