The Mule
Warner Bros. | Release Date: December 14, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
15
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Little White LiesMark AschFeb 14, 2022
The Mule is a beautiful, troubling film. It is a pearl formed around a grit of unease in the oyster of our nostalgia. Read full review
85
The AtlanticDavid SimsDec 23, 2018
This movie is as much a eulogy for a country that Eastwood sees as slowly crumbling as it is for the life Earl chose to lead. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichDec 12, 2018
This soulful and deeply satisfying film — a fitting swansong, if ever there was one — makes a compelling argument that change is always possible, and that the path we’re on is never as narrow as the highway makes it look. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranDec 13, 2018
Though the feeling sneaks up on you, The Mule has an unexpected emotional kick. That’s because in subject and execution it plays as personal as anything the filmmaker has done. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyDec 12, 2018
Less cranky and inciting than Gran Torino but persuasively expressive in conveying an old man's regrets along with his desire to improve himself even in late age, The Mule shows that Eastwood's still got it, both as a director and actor. Read full review
75
The Associated PressJake CoyleDec 20, 2018
As The Mule ambles toward its conclusion, it draws closer to Stone, and maybe to Eastwood’s legacy, too. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedDec 14, 2018
As Earl, Clint Eastwood is so believable and such a charming curmudgeon that when the cops from the Federal Drug Administration led by Bradley Cooper turn the tables, you don’t want them to. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDec 13, 2018
It’s an entertaining enough offbeat crime comedy/drama featuring an amazing cast — led by the grizzled, shuffling, mumbling, wisecracking old dog playing the lead. Read full review
75
Original-CinLiam LaceyDec 13, 2018
Thematic issues aside, Eastwood is noted for a high level of economic craft and The Mule is no exception. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyDec 12, 2018
The Mule fits the 88-year-old Eastwood perfectly. Not just because there probably aren’t many roles for actors of his age out there, but also because its lack of judgment makes sense for a star who’s always been as willing to play anti-heroes as heroes. Read full review
70
SlateKeith PhippsDec 14, 2018
As grim as the above might sound, it’s also a spry, funny, moving film that never heads in the direction in which it looks like it’s about to head, kind of like its protagonist. Read full review
70
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 14, 2018
The Mule is more character study than "Dirty Harry: The Emeritus Years." It’s the detours on the road — the stops along the way that show an old man dealing with the dim possibilities of change near the end of his life — that reveal this drug-mule-in-winter drama as a deeply personal reckoning. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinDec 13, 2018
A modest but reasonably suspenseful and abidingly eerie portrait of the aged white American male trying vainly to forestall rejection and irrelevance. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonDec 12, 2018
While this defiantly unflashy film may similarly feel out of step, long on mawkishness and short on dynamic, arresting moments, the purity of its gently mournful tone stays with you. Read full review
67
The PlaylistJoe BlessingDec 12, 2018
If you come looking for an effective drama with heavy ideas about family and justice, The Mule will likely disappoint. However, if the idea of an oddball road trip with Clint Eastwood toting a few kilos in the back sounds appealing, you’re in for a treat. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerDec 12, 2018
In some ways, The Mule represents a late-period version of classic Eastwood, in that it’s even pokier and more workmanlike than his best work, and sometimes downright strange. Read full review
65
TheWrapRobert AbeleDec 12, 2018
The Mule may not always stand with his most resonant work, at times betraying the awkwardness of someone set in his grizzled ways. But Eastwood’s tilled enough filmmaking soil over the years to know that the same ground can produce daylilies or contraband and that the most involving movies at least try to harvest both. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 17, 2018
Rather than a suspenseful action exercise with volleys of gunfire, The Mule is more of a quixotic character picaresque, a distant relative of the recent Robert Redford farewell, “The Old Man & the Gun,” without being nearly as well written. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 15, 2018
The Mule is not one of Eastwood’s greats, but it does hold your interest and keep you tickled, almost from first to last. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineCarson LundDec 13, 2018
The film finally ends up souring its perspective on responsibility with a hardened take on the limits of the American dream. Read full review
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