Film Review: The Mule

"I Thought It Was More Important To Be Somebody Out There Than The Failure I Was In My Own Home..."

Whilst it is always harsh to judge a filmmaker with as much pedigree as Clint Eastwood on just one movie within a career which has spanned more than half a century, the rather strange and bewildering blandness of The 15:17 to Paris last year painted a dark blot on the back catalogue of the Hollywood legend to such an extent that the release of The Mule seems to have come around somewhat without an inch of hype or expectation. Returning to the world of acting for the first time since 2014, Eastwood balances the starring role alongside his duties as director for a movie which seems to be his The Old Man and the Gun or Phantom Thread, with Eastwood, who now at the tender age of 88, potentially finding the perfect time to call this old filmmaking malarky to a close. Based on Sam Dolnick's New York Times article, "The Sinaloa Cartel's 90-Year-Old Drug Mule", an account on the latter life of Leo Sharp, a World War II veteran who ran drugs throughout the USA on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel, The Mule sees Eastwood as Earl Stone, a work consumed elderly horticulturist whose loss of business results in him resorting to working under the wing of Andy Garcia's (Ocean's Eleven) cartel boss, a decision which quickly burdens Stone with the reputation as the most reliable, if slightly oddball, drug mule in the business. 

Featuring a screenplay from Nick Schenk, the award winning writer behind Gran Torino and The Judge, Eastwood's latest is a surprisingly low-key, thoughtful and rather traditional affair, a movie which although suffers from being rather repetitive and ridiculously predictable, benefits from a genuine sense of warmness, an element personified by seeing the aged Eastwood completely embrace and have bundles of fun with a role which without the American's gargantuan impact on the world of cinema, may not have made it onto the big screen in the first place. With the criminal element of the narrative particularly straightforward to follow from the outset, the paint-by-numbers unravelling of the plot is knowingly cliched, with the most interesting part of the movie undoubtedly the character of Stone himself, with Schenk's screenplay working best in scenes where we see Stone rebuild his local community with funds raised from his illegal pastimes and the elongated trials and tribulations faced from his family, with supporting roles from the likes of the excellent Dianne Wiest (Edward Scissorhands) adding to the overarching charmful tone which the movie exhales. Whilst bold attempts at building narrative tangents such as the inclusion of strange criminal back stabbings are indeed wholly superficial, the clearest weakness of the film is the wasted involvement of anyone connected to the law enforcement, with the likes of Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born) and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) not exactly being given the time or the material to offer the type of performances both are renowned for, but with a sense of technical reliability which comes with most things associated with Eastwood, The Mule won't set the world alight, but much like its' titular anti-hero, is a movie which drives from point A to B in good time without alarming anyone along the way.  

Overall Score: 6/10

Film Review: The 15:17 to Paris

"Do You Ever Feel Life Is Pushing Us Towards A Greater Purpose...?"

Renowned for a distrust in the works of finesse and instead obeying the rule of one take, one hit when it comes to his particular brand of film-making, Hollywood stalwart, Clint Eastwood, returns after 2016's Sully, with The 15:17 to Paris, a somewhat similar tale of heroism and the remarkable workings of the human spirit, and a movie which features as its' seat-selling trump card, a trio of leading stars who each portray themselves in attempting to re-tell the widely covered events which occurred upon the titular train on 21 August, 2015. Whilst not exactly the type of character movie executives would tend to disagree with when it comes to the creation of a particular cinematic vision, Eastwood's bold and brave decision to allow the real heroes of the story to re-enact their own history is one of interesting possibilities, and whilst the tale at the heart of the movie is one of staggering bravery in the face of mindless destruction, The 15:17 to Paris is unfortunately a wildly misjudged mess, a movie which attempts to landfill its' runtime with elements of backstory and cliched character arcs without any degree of success, and even with a concluding set piece which is undeniably well executed, Eastwood's latest is a strange case which begs the question whether it was really needed in the first place.

Based on The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Train, and Three American Soldiers, a true account of events by each of the famous heroes and Jeffrey E. Stern, the movie begins with a somewhat swift and overly jarring diversion into Boyhood-esque territory in which we see the childhood lives of Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler intertwine through tales of school-time shenanigans and dreams of joining the US Military. Whilst the narrative decision to give backstory to each of the heroes may have seemed crucial in understanding at a deeper level the events which take place, the first hour is instead utterly pointless, with the acting abilities and on-screen charisma of both Skarlatos and Sadler completely devoid of any positivity whatsoever, a outcome rather unsurprising when considering the lack of acting experience between them. With this in mind, the obvious decision to allow Stone to be the leading figure of the film does allow some form of success, with his likeable and openly flawed demeanour the main access point for audience involvement, but when the movie does eventually come to its' taut and tense concluding set piece which brings together each strands of the story set in place, it is unfortunately too late, and for a movie to have only ten minutes of greatness within a runtime of just over ninety minutes, the wait really isn't worth it at all. 

Overall Score: 3/10

Film Review: Sully: Miracle on the Hudson

"No One Warned Us. No One Said "You're Going To Lose Both Engines At A Lower Altitude Than Any Jet In History"..."

No guys, Clint Eastwood's latest isn't a continuation of the Monsters Inc. character but instead a biographical drama based upon the extraordinary events that took place on 15th January 2009 when US Airways Flight 1549 was miraculously landed upon the Hudson River by pilots Chelsey Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles after a bird strike had completely destroyed both the left and right engines, leaving them in the air with no thrust and little chance to return to ground safely. Such a remarkable and historical achievement was inevitably set to hit the big screens sooner rather than later and what Eastwood has accomplished with Sully is creating a gripping and intelligently played drama which tackles not only the experience of Captain Sully's landing but the repercussions of it too. With Tom Hanks performing effortlessly in the lead role as the titular Sully, Eastwood's latest is indeed a hit, albeit suffering from some minor issues which prevent it from being up there with his best work as a director. 

Inevitably, the fundamental narrative that fluctuates throughout Sully is a gripping enough plot in itself to catch the eye of even the least cinematically viable audience with a good, uplifting heroic story being the mark of a bankable picture, particularly when you have the reliable hands of Hanks as your movies' star, and whilst the movie skips between the past and the present of our titular hero, the most effective parts of the movie take place during the films' big set pieces, primarily the landing itself as well as the discussions that take place afterwards where although the narrative is hyped up completely to function as the drama, still manages to work, even if Eastwood manages to make every single journalist and white collar worker look like the villains of the piece. What the film didn't need however was the cringey CGI crash scenes which took place inside the traumatised mind of our hero which completely reverses the effect of the movie and removes it from the subtle and understated nature of a film like Spotlight and instead becomes more of a popcorn movie as a result. Of course, popcorn movie goodness is not entirely a bad thing and whilst Sully does manage to come away as an effective telling of an incredible achievement within recent history, it isn't really anything more than that, but, as with anything with Tom Hanks in, Sully is still an enjoyable and well made drama. 

Overall Score: 7/10  

Film Review: American Sniper

Born In The USA

Now that the Oscar nominations have been let loose on the world, it is time for me to catch up on all the films that I haven't seen which have been nominated for 'Best Picture'. Beginning my journey, albeit a very small one with only three films needing to be watched, is American Sniper, the new movie directed by The Man With No Name, starring Bradley Cooper, last heard as a gun-toting raccoon in last years' wonderful Guardians of the Galaxy. Shall we begin?

American Sniper focuses on the life of Chris Kyle, the "deadliest marksman in US military history", who during his time as a Navy Seal, racked up 255 kills. 160 of which were confirmed, whilst attempting to highlight the effects war can have on soldiers, both in a wartime environment and a 'normal' one. The word, "attempting", is probably the key fulcrum on which this review is based as the movie fails to paint a picture of how horrific war actually is, and instead, relies too many times on scenes that go full-on Call of Duty, with Black Hawk Down being the obvious inspiration, which in my mind, is something I have seen too many times before. 

In terms of the good, Bradley Cooper does a solid job portraying Kyle, whilst Sienna Miller, who subsequently has seemingly reappeared out of nowhere in American Sniper and Foxcatcher, does an equally as good job playing the role of the estranged wife who is caught between Kyle's love for her and his love for war. Aside from the two Kyles, the rest of the film is seemingly enriched with 2-D characters who come and go in relatively forgettable fashion, whilst the contrast between Kyle and the enemy sniper is rather poorly done and should have had more depth in order for me to actually care for the twisted relationship between the two. The word "depth", in general, springs to mind, as their simply wasn't enough in this film to justify its' two hour plus run-time, and it seemed to drag on and not really grip me like I wished it would. 

Overall, American Sniper, is a solid, yet unspectacular, flag-waving war film that attempts to show the true horrors and effects of war yet only succeeds in falling flat on its' face. Although it has been nominated for "Best Picture" at the forthcoming Oscars, it is probably the weakest of all the films in that category and in my opinion, should easily be replaced by Foxcatcher. 

Overall Score: 6/10