Movie – The Mule

Movies Nov 23, 2019

Overview:

With this movie I did not have any expectations about it except the few minutes prior before seeing it when I briefly read over the synapse of it. The movie sounded like it was going to be some old man getting in with the cartel which is it but more to it than that. With the start of the movie they establish that the main character who is this old man takes his job of gardening and selling flowers. I do not believe they expanded more on this unless i missed a couple sentences where they briefed over it. He would not spend any time with his family or grandchild for that matter so grew distant from them due to this. A 12-year time skip took place and they put you in where the grand daughter is getting married. Now older then before he does attend the party they are having for engagement but not because he was intending to but rather other reasons where it was more of a `might as well go`. His family, namely the daughter and ex-wife, tell him off a bit for not being there for them their entire life of marriage and only now wants to be here but calls him out for not actually wanting but rather the reason i stated prior, only because he might as well go.

That all happened within the first few minutes of the film that was setup for what is to come. As he is leaving the party a Mexican guy that is friends of one of the family members (iirc) brisked over to him and talked a bit saying he had a special type of job that would allow him to just drive from one place to another and get paid for doing it. He took him up on the offer not knowing anything about the specifics. Once he arrived at the place they loaded his car up and off he went.

As the movie progressed they would occasionally flip back to the family showing there are problems there between them still and with the money he was obtaining started to buy and maintained the things that he thought were what made him happy. You could tell that he didn’t want this rift between them to continue but didn’t know what to do to make amends. This was overshadowing him the entire movie. Once he figured out what he was delivering he immediately contemplated what he was doing but decided to continue onward for reasons briefed over in the film. For those that might have missed, without spoiling ~~he was using money, and a large chunk of it on the family as a way to slowly make amends~~. It’s not really a spoiler but important to note that as it showed he wanted to change the situation but wasn’t aware of how exactly to do it.

By the end of the film there came the point where working for the cartel or family was finally upon him. He was going to be forced to choose one or the other. The choice he would make here would decide if he truly did believe in family over work or not. Due to it being a cartel the choice to break away from what they say in any way would lead to death which is a major factor going through his mind. Since if he chooses his family it would mean he has finally put them above work and realized the time lost could never be regained but with the consequences to follow or he could skip the call as he always had and continue down the path he chose shown from the beginning of the movie meaning he wants change but doesn’t want to change the style of life he has been living, essentially meaning that work and time spent on work is always more important than family no matter what the call is about.

Visuals/Music:

Not much to say about the visuals, some of the filming they have done could have been done with a bit less shaking in some parts but that is how most modern movies record things to add more suspense. It isn’t a bad tactic but also not a good one, its neutral for me.

Music was placed good enough and matched the tones given the scenes with silence used accordingly. No outstanding soundtrack but there didn’t need to be one as what was used suited it just fine and didn’t feel out of place at any point during the film.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I have to say I was satisfied with the movie and would recommend others watch it if they have the chance to. It shows a man breaking old habits and trying to make amends for the life he screwed up. He faces the problems he had made for himself throughout his life and comes to terms with them and pushes forward for tomorrow instead of dwelling on why he couldn’t have done different in the past. Instead he comes out with the outlook of this is what I will do from here on out.