An average movie

I already saw this movie but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out again. Following the truly dreadful ‘The 15:17 to Paris’, easily his weakest directing effort so far, Clint Eastwood didn’t waste time and released this movie the very same year. Since it had received some solid reviews, I was quite eager to see if the guy had managed to redeem himself somehow. Well, eventually, even though it was indeed miles better than ‘The 15:17 to Paris’, it turned out to be only a decent watch though. I mean, it was a strong story but I was missing some tension, some suspense. For example, it was refreshing that the main character would get along fine with all these cartel gangsters but this approach did have its drawback. Indeed, not only it turned the whole thing unintentionally into a pro-drug trafficking commercial (seriously, if you would believe this movie, to be a drug mule is actually a pretty easy job, with some nice colleagues and lots of easy cash) but it also created a lack of a real threat through the whole thing. Same thing with the police investigation, it felt pretty generic and didn’t generate much excitement from my side. This movie eventually reminded me somehow of ‘A Perfect World’, another flick directed by Eastwood, also dealing with a criminal being chased by the police and the damned thing was just nail-biting but it was definitely not the case here. However, it was a great character for Eastwood who really nailed it and, as usual, you might wonder if it will be his last acting job. On top of that, you might wonder if there was something autobiographical about this story as Eastwood has fathered at least 8 children with 6 different women and probably neglected most of them while becoming one of the most famous actor and director that ever lived. Anyway, to conclude, even if the whole thing was nothing really amazing, it was still fairly entertaining and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Clint Eastwood’s work. 

6/10