This morning the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled their nominations for the 91st annual Academy Awards, and anyone who was a fan of the recent Clint Eastwood hit THE MULE is going to have a hard day of crying on the floor. But you know who are two people who certainly won’t be forgetting MULE any time soon: Comedians John Mulaney and Pete Davidson. The duo saw the movie on opening day back in December, and on the first episode of Saturday Night Live of the year, the two took to the Weekend Update desk to share their wild opinions on the “bananas” drama.
Things start off with SNL cast member and That Guy Who’s Always on Your Twitter Feed Davidson coming out to talk about having seen The Mule over the mid-season break, only to introduce the man he saw it with, former SNL writer Mulaney (SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE). After Mulaney gets a joke or two in there about Davidson’s bonkers personal life and suicide scare – only to tell him he loves him dearly – they get into the wild ride they had watching THE MULE.
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Davidson said the two didn’t go into the movie with any expectations, with Mulaney describing it as "the greatest, most bananas movie ever made.” Mulaney continued, joking, “You remember when Eastwood berated an empty chair at the Republican National Convention?” with Davidson chiming in, “It’s like if that was a movie.”
While there’s plenty to dissect in the movie, what the two focus on is the bizarre, astounding fact that the movie centers on Eastwood as a 90-year-old man who is, above all things, great at driving. “When my grandma turned 90 we bribed the DMV to flunk her on her driving test, and they did it.,” Mulaney joked.
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Between the nigh-impossible driving skills and the fact Eastwood has not one, but two threesomes in the movie, it leads Mulaney to determine that THE MULE is indeed “a superhero movie for old people.” I know the movie got some solid reviews, but this is the one that needs to be on the cover of the Blu-ray when it gets released.
With over $100 million in domestic box office receipts, it's indeed making superhero money, and in that case, a sequel should lean into that descriptor fully. Come THE MULE 2, Eastwood should team up with his characters from GRAN TORINO and MILLION DOLLAR BABY to fight off a horde of invading teenagers send to skateboard up and down every street in America.
THE MULE is in theaters now.