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40

December 13 • 2018

jn

AT THE MOVIES
Opening Dec. 14: The Favourite has
received glowing advance reviews and
it’s likely that the film and its co-stars will
receive Oscar nominations.
In the early 18th century, the frail
Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) is the reign-
ing monarch. Her best friend is Lady
Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz, 48).
Sarah’s husband, John Churchill, the
Duke of Marlborough, is Britain’s top gen-
eral (and a direct ancestor of Winston). He
is fighting the French as the film begins.
Anne is weary of the long war, and John
depends on Sarah’s friendship with
Anne to keep his army in the field. Enter
Sarah’s cousin, Abigail (Emma Stone), a
woman of aristocratic background whose
family is impoverished. Sarah arranges
for Abigail to take a position as a pal-
ace servant. Abigail skillfully ingratiates
herself with Anne and threatens to take
Sarah’s place as “the favourite.”

CLINT’S JEWISH CONNECTIONS
Also opening on the 14th is The Mule.
Clint Eastwood stars as Earl Stone, a
character based on Leo Sharp (1924-
2016), a decorated World War II veteran
who became a courier for the Sinaloa
drug cartel. Sharp was raised in Detroit.
After the war, he raised prize-winning
flowers on his Michigan City, Ind., farm.
However, by 2000, the farm was los-
ing money and Sharp became a drug
“mule.” For 10 years, he drove his car,
packed with cocaine, from the Mexican
border to Detroit.
The film follows Stone (Sharp) trans-
porting cocaine. But as he does, he

Frances Fisher

comes under the scrutiny of a top DEA
agent (Bradley Cooper). Stone is aware
that he may be arrested or “taken out”
by the cartel before, as the film’s publicity
says, “He has time to right past wrongs.”
The Mule was written by Nick Schenck,
who also wrote Gran Torino (2008),
another Clint Eastwood (Michigan-set)
film about an old guy facing very difficult
circumstances.
I wanted to cover this “very” Michigan
film. Problem? No Jewish people had an
important role in this film. Instead, here’s
a short list of some of Eastwood’s Jewish
connections: (1) Eastwood is “mostly”
a Republican. But he endorsed Dianne
Feinstein when she first (1994) ran for
the Senate. That first race was tough
and Eastwood’s nod helped her. (2) A bio
says that Eastwood is hard to reach on
the phone. The only calls his secretaries
always let though are ones from what
Clint calls his “Jewish mafia” (his agent,
his accountants and his lawyers); 3) In
the 1982 film Firefox, Eastwood played
Gant, an American spy who steals a super
high-tech Soviet plane. A bio says that
Eastwood was pleased that the Soviet
dissidents who helped Gant were depict-
ed as Jewish; (4) From 1990 to 1996,
Eastwood’s romantic partner was actress
Frances Fisher, now 66, whose father
was Jewish. Their daughter, Francesca
Eastwood, 26, is also an actress; and (5)
In 2004, a reporter started to ask Clint
about the Oscar chances for Mystic River
(2003), a film he directed. He exclaimed:
“Kinehora!” Clint then laughed and
explained it was a Jewish expression
meant to ward off a jinx. ■