The film co-stars Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña, Dianne Wiest, and Andy García.

The film received generally positive reviews, with critics calling it "poignant and charming" and praising Eastwood's performance.

Enraged that her father once again chose his career over her, Iris stops speaking to him and his wife Mary files for divorce.

Twelve years later, Earl visits his granddaughter Ginny to attend her wedding rehearsal, not telling his family that the only reason he's there is because his flower farming business has gone bankrupt, and his home has just been foreclosed on by the bank.

Facing little suspicion due to his age, ethnicity, spotless criminal history, and strict adherence to driving laws, Earl is soon entrusted with huge amounts of drugs, the delivery of which earns him thousands of dollars.

After attending the funeral and finally reconciling with Iris and the rest of his family, Earl resumes the delivery as both the DEA and the cartel close in on him.

The rights to the subsequent article, "The Sinaloa Cartel's 90-Year-Old Drug Mule" by Sam Dolnick,[3] were sold to Imperative Entertainment later that year.

[6] Producers include Eastwood for Malpaso Productions, along with Tim Moore, Kristina Rivera and Jessica Meier, and Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas for Imperative Entertainment.

[10][11] In June 2018, Dianne Wiest and Michael Peña joined the film's cast to play Earl Stone's ex-wife and Bates' fellow DEA agent, respectively.

[1] In the United States and Canada, The Mule was released alongside Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Mortal Engines, and was projected to gross $15–18 million from 2,588 theaters in its opening weekend.

The website's critical consensus reads, "A flawed yet enjoyable late-period Eastwood entry, The Mule stubbornly retains its footing despite a few missteps on its occasionally unpredictable path.

[21] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote, "It's a great true story, colorfully told by Sam Dolnick in The New York Times".

[25] David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a "B+" and called it Eastwood's best in over 25 years, writing: "This soulful and deeply satisfying film—a fitting swan song, 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.