In a dramatic story about Earl Stone, a 88-year-old Korean war veteran, he goes through seemingly difficult circumstances years after he left. Earl still faces financial ruin, scattered about his family and away from it. Earl decides to work in a cocaine trade from El Paso to Chicago, where he is re-positioning himself at FW and also trying to do his daughter's wedding, but he seems to face the Drug Enforcement Administration and the cartel seriously.
Once you get past the outrageous nature of its true-life premise, this crime drama stumbles in its attempt to confront a deeper moral complexity, instead opting for a predictable redemption saga.
The story at its core deals with matters that have long been Mr. Eastwood's professional, and clearly personal, concern... When the old man finally mans up to his failings, the movie succeeds with special poignancy.
Tonally, this thing is a disaster, and you can only conclude that its maker, capable of sharp ironies as recently as 2014's American Sniper, didn't fully digest the material.
There's nothing heroic about Earl, but in Eastwood's 38th film as a director, he makes the character a felonious centerpiece as likable as anyone could ever imagine.