The Mule

You would think a movie about a man who is unable to go to the bathroom for a week, lest he reveal the copious amount of heroin that is in his stomach, would rely wholly on childish toilet humour. However, writers Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson, along with director Tony Mahoney, have made a grimly comic thriller about drug smuggling.

The year is 1983 and the whole of Australia is gripped by America's Cup fever. Meanwhile in Melbourne, Ray Jenkins (Sampson) is convinced by his friend Gavin (Whannell) to come on the footy club end of year trip to Thailand. Gavin also has the extra objective of buying a kilo of heroin for shady businessman Pat (John Noble), which Ray has to ingest for the flight home. Once in Melbourne airport, Ray is immediately picked up by customs for his suspicious behaviour. He is then held in custody for seven days by detectives Paris (Ewen Leslie) and Croft (Hugo Weaving).

I had initially thought that this movie was going to be a comedy, based on the premise of the film and the idea that Angus Sampson is a pretty funny guy. Instead it is incredibly dark, and although it had some funny moments, it was on the whole a very serious film. I found the film to be a bit oddly paced however, and it sometimes seemed to speed along at places and at other times it slowed to get through a lengthy piece of exposition.

The performances in this film are a delight to watch though and distract you away from any slow storytelling. Sampson's slight idiot mother's boy Ray seems to only have a slight grasp of the situation he is in and the performances reflect this. Georgina Haig does a great job as Ray's attorney, although I would have liked to see her more. The two best performances for me come from Weaving and Noble. Weaving is incredibly vicious and sadistic as Detective Croft, who knows straight away that Ray has something to hide. Noble (who I had only known previously from Rockstar's LA Noire) is absolutely villainous as Pat 'the Rat'. He is the most enjoyable character to watch in the whole movie.

Verdict: A great display of Australian performances, even if it is a little difficult to watch at times.