Leigh Paatsch: Five films like Eastwood’s latest The Mule

As Clint Eastwood pits himself against a nasty drug cartel in The Mule, Leigh Paatsch picks out five more flicks to stream that show just what happens when you upset a kingpin.

Clint Eastwood in a scene from The Mule.

With this week’s new release The Mule putting old-timer Clint Eastwood up against a nasty Mexican cocaine cartel, here are five other flicks to stream where folks get into trouble with drug lords.

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Scarlett Johansson in a scene from 2014 film Lucy.

LUCY (2014)

Google, iTunes

***1/2

Scarlett Johansson plays an American student in Taiwan commandeered as a drug mule by local traffickers.

After the accidental intake of a dangerous new designer substance, Lucy’s brain capacity starts expanding at an exponential rate.

A freaky action affair where your only option is to go with the gushing, exhilarating flow as this raging torrent of thrills, spills and ground-up pills surges forwards.

Blake Lively and Taylor Kitsch in Savages.

SAVAGES (2012)

Foxtel Now, Amazon

***

Best buds Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) grow the best dope in the US, and their business model is not all about the money.

However, when their shared girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by mobsters, the boys must drop the nice guys act and get nasty ASAP.

Approach as a guilty displeasure — it does have some huge plot holes — and it will work you over the way you want.

Kate Beckinsale and Claire Danes in Brokedown Palace.

BROKEDOWN PALACE (1999)

Foxtel Now

***

Student pals Alice (Claire Danes) and Darlene (Kate Beckinsale) tell their parents they are flying to Hawaii for a post-graduation knees-up, but sneak off to Thailand instead. Big mistake.

Then they develop a crush on a hunky Aussie, who dupes them into becoming international drug couriers. An even bigger mistake. A corny, but well-intentioned cautionary tale.

Johnny Depp as George Jung with Penelope Cruz in Blow. Picture: Blow DVD/Roadshow Entertainment

BLOW (2001)

Foxtel Now

***

Johnny Depp stars in this biopic of convicted drugs trafficker George Jung, adapted from his autobiography How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost it All.

Everything is going just swimmingly for Jung until he gets greedy and gets on the wrong side of infamous Columbian cartel heavyweight, Pablo Escobar (Cliff Curtis).

Jake Gyllenhaal, right, and Michael Pena as LAPD officers in End of Watch.

END OF WATCH (2012)

Stan

****

A superior police drama about two unorthodox LAPD officers (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena) who enter a world of misery when they intercept a truck full of drugs in the line of duty.

“You’ve just tugged on the tail of a snake,” a federal agent tells them. “It will soon turn around and bite you back.” Uh-oh. Tough, unrelenting stuff, helped along by the convincing chemistry of the two leads.

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Originally published as Leigh Paatsch: Five films like Eastwood’s latest The Mule