Movie Reviews

Look at the DVD cover and you might get the idea that The Mule is a very bad comedy with jokes that only slightly rise above whoopee cushion level. Well, you’d be wrong…

It’s 1983. Ray Jenkins (Angus Sampson) is a slightly dimwitted dude who swallowed 20 condoms filled with heroin and is trying to smuggle them into Australia. When he’s detained by Australian Federal Police, he is however sharp enough to use a legal loophole that prevents the police from taking an x-ray. They can however keep Ray in custody for seven days and wait for… get ready… for the shit to hit the fan.

You don’t get to see a lot of movies where shit is actually a critical part of the plot. Which is probably a good thing. But this is the rare exception where it works. Sure, there are a couple of scenes where you might want to look away while snacking and the movie doesn’t come with any big laughs, but directors Tony Mahony and Sampson know how to pace themselves and the script (in which Sampson also had a hand) comes with plenty of twists and turns.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying I enjoyed watching The Mule (there’s one scene I’d prefer to un-see), but overall this is a pretty solid flick that turned out to be way better than I expected.