The Mule: Clint Eastwood’s return to the camera
Released in 2019, the film The mule by and with Clint Eastwood marks the latter’s return in front of the camera. In fact, he hadn’t appeared in one of his films since A new possibility released in 2012.
In this film based on an incredible true story, Clint Eastwood plays Earl Stone, a World War II veteran turned drug courier for a Mexican cartel, desperate to right his past mistakes and reconnect with his family. What initially was a simple solution to his financial problems soon turns out to be a solution a complex moral choicethrowing him into a dangerous world that threatens his life and the lives of those around him.
The mule is a profound human tale, offering a window into the soul of a man trying to reconnect with his family and find peace with himself before it’s too late.
How old was Clint Eastwood during filming?
Clint Eastwood, born May 31, 1930, was 88 years old at the time of filming. The mule. If you find him tired in the film, it’s not because of his age, but because he has it he deliberately wanted to appear older to stick more closely to Leo Sharp, the veteran who inspired the Earl Stone character. He explained it at the time of the film’s release:
In a way, I modeled Earl’s character after him and his physique, especially his elderly gait.
What happened to Leo Sharp?
Born May 7, 1924, and died December 12, 2016, Leo Sharp was a World War II veteran and noted horticulturist, specializing in breeding new varieties of lilies, before becoming a courier for the Sinaloa Cartel.
In the late 1990s, after enjoying great success as a horticulturist, Sharp’s business began to falter with the advent of the Internet and changing consumer habits. Faced with the failure of his floral business and motivated by the need to support his family and preserve his legacy, Sharp was lured by a lucrative but illegal proposition: transporting drugs for the Sinaloa Cartel. Using his harmless, elderly appearance and quiet identity, he became a highly efficient transporter, moving hundreds of kilograms of cocaine across the United States.
In 2010 he was said to have transported between 200 and 250 kilos of drugs per month. This business earned him a million dollars that year alone. However, in October 2011, on a Michigan highway, his long career as a drug mule ended when he was pulled over by police, with more than 100 pounds of drugs hidden in his pickup truck.
At trial, Sharp pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison on his ninetieth birthday. Despite his worsening health, he was released after serving a year of his sentence on humanitarian grounds. Sharp died in 2016 at the age of 92.
It was while reading an article by New York Times about him that Clint Eastwood wanted to transpose his story to the big screen.
Source: Cine Serie
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