‘The Mule’ on Netflix: The True Story Behind the Clint Eastwood’s Character Earl Stone

If you caught The Mule on Netflix this weekend, you should know that no matter how crazy this Clint Eastwood film about a World War II veteran turned drug dealer seems, it’s even crazier when you remember that it’s true. Well, it’s mostly true. The 2018 film, which was written by Nick Schenk and directed by Eastwood (who also stars in the lead role), is all thanks to the excellent reporting and storytelling of Sam Dolnick, whose 2014 New York Times, “The Sinaloa Cartel’s 90-Year-Old Drug Mule,” inspired the film.

Do take the time to read Dolnick’s article before or after you watch The Mule, because it’s a fascinating read. Leo Sharp—whose name in the movie is Earl Stone—was a real person, known by his code name Tata among the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico. He was one of the cartel’s biggest couriers, driving hundreds of kilos of cocaine across the country in his pick-up truck. But when the DEA finally caught up with this infamous dealer, they discovered nothing but a confused, borderline senile 87-year-old man. He was a veteran and a grandfather, and he also had five giant duffel bags of cocaine in his truck bed. That’s the character that Eastwood plays in The Mule.

Is The Mule based on a true story? Who is Leo Sharp?

Didn’t you read the intro of this piece? Yes, it is! The Mule is based on the true story of Leo Sharp, an 87-year-old drug mule and WWII veteran who was arrested by the DEA with five duffel bags of cocaine in 2011. Eastwood plays the character based on sharp, while Bradley Cooper plays a DEA agent named Colin Bates, who is based on the real-life Special Agent Jeff Moore, who led the team who eventually closed in on Sharp. The New York Times article that inspired the film includes a video of the real-life Sharp being arrested with cocaine in his pick-up truck just outside Kalamazoo, MI. Sharp was sentenced to prison but was released early in 2015 because he was said to be terminally ill. He died on December 12, 2016, at the age of 92, and was buried in Honolulu, Hawaii.

How accurate is The Mule?

Let’s start with the true stuff: The real Sharp really was a horticulturist, meaning he grew fancy flowers and was admired for his hybridization of daylilies. The Times article describes Sharp as the “Don King” of the fancy flower community, and he attended several flower conventions. And he really did become a Robin Hood-esque figure, according to Eastwood, and used his drug money to help those in need.

However, like any movie based on a true story, Eastwood and writer Nick Schenk took some creative liberties. For one thing, the names were changed—Leo Sharp became Earl Stone, and Jeff Moore became Colin Bates. The film changed the location as well—rather than the Detroit area, which was Sharp’s home town, Eastwood made the home base of the film Chicago. It’s also likely not true that, as happens in the film, Sharp unknowingly became involved in the drug cartel. In reality, according to Sharp’s lawyer quoted by The Times, “He has Mexican fellas working on the farms. They happen to know people who introduced him to other people who asked him if he wanted to get involved in something.”

As for what happened on the road, Eastwood himself has said in interviews those sequences are all fictional, because “we don’t know what he incurred when he was on the road doing all these trips.”  Finally, the film’s subplot involving Stone’s ex-wife named Mary, played by Dianne Wiest, appears to be entirely invented. Hey, you’ve got to make your film emotionally meaningful somehow!