Just last month, a very interesting film seemed to fly under everyone’s radar. It’s called The Mule, and it stars one of the most iconic film stars of our generation (actually, of our grandparents’ generation, too!)–Clint Eastwood.

If you’re a big Eastwood fan, then you know that the legendary actor hasn’t appeared in any major roles on the silver screen since way back in 2012, when he starred alongside Amy Adams in Trouble with the Curve.

Ever since then, we’ve been missing the actor’s timeless, albeit gruff, presence. We have no idea how we missed out on The Mule, but, if our memory serves us, it was probably due to a little thing called “the holidays.” Definitely not a time that is conducive to catching a Sunday matinee. But, we digress…

Here’s a description of Eastwood’s new film:

Eastwood stars as Earl Stone, a man in his 80s who is broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he is offered a job that simply requires him to drive. Easy enough, but, unbeknownst to Earl, he’s just signed on as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. He does well—so well, in fact, that his cargo increases exponentially, and Earl is assigned a handler.

Sounds intense, right? Well, get a load of this…

But he isn’t the only one keeping tabs on Earl; the mysterious new drug mule has also hit the radar of hard-charging DEA agent Colin Bates. And even as his money problems become a thing of the past, Earl’s past mistakes start to weigh heavily on him, and it’s uncertain if he’ll have time to right those wrongs before law enforcement, or the cartel’s enforcers, catch up to him.

Sounds like a classic nail-biter, if we’ve ever heard one!

What makes The Mule particularly special for longtime Eastwood fans is the fact that he both starred in and directed this film. Pulling double-duty is an impressive feat for anyone, but what makes it even more impressive is that he did so at the age of 88!

Yep, Clint Eastwood certainly isn’t your average octogenarian. In an interview with USA Today that was conducted just before the film’s release, Eastwood joked that the reason why he was initially attracted to the script was because he was able to play a “guy who was older than [him].”

You see, Eastwood’s character, Earl Stone, is actually based on a real person who was 90-years-old when he was discovered to be working for the infamous Sinaloa drug cartel. Though most of the film takes place before the bust–putting Eastwood right around the same age as Stone–we can still definitely appreciate the actor’s sentiment!

The film also stars fellow silver screen veteran, Dianne Wiest, as the main character’s ex-wife, and Alison Eastwood (Clint’s real-life daughter) in the role of–you guessed it!–Earl Stone’s daughter.

To learn even more about this new Clint Eastwood classic, be sure to watch the film’s trailer below.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on The Mule. Have you seen this film yet? If so, are you a fan of it? What’s your all-time favorite Clint Eastwood movie?