Ray Jenkins (Angus Sampson) repairs TVs and is a bit of a dullard. In 1983 while the Royal Perth Yacht Club was giving a yachting lesson to their American counterparts, Ray wins a trip to Thailand. Ray's stepfather (Geoff Morrell) has some gambling debts and Ray reluctantly agrees to act as a mule to pay said debts. Ray swallows 20 condoms filled with heroin and gets nailed at the border. He is locked in a motel room until he releases his bowels. With an attorney (Georgina Haig) attempting to spring him, Ray is in a race against biology.

This is an interesting low budget film. Most of the "action" takes place in a motel room. There is stuff going on around him, such as the drug dealers reaction and that of his parents. The film is a crime drama. The "comedy" aspect is not due to any kind of humor or irony, but simply because of the crudeness of the subject matter.

Okay film for someone who watches a lot of crime dramas.

Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

The Mule also known as The Smuggler is a nice, offbeat crime thriller with some black comedy.

It is set in 1983 as as Australia II is making a robust challenge for the Americas Cup Competition.

Nice but dim Ray (Angus Sampson) has been set up to have a trip to Thailand with his football team. In fact the club president who has a sideline in criminal activities plans to have Ray set up as a drugs mule. Ray swallows condoms full of heroine but is detained by the police when he returns to Australia.

He is questioned by detectives. Tom Croft (Hugo Weaving) and Les Paris (Ewen Leslie) who play bad cop and good cop respectively. Croft roughs Ray up but Ray decides not to pass anything through his body much to the detectives displeasure. Also the local criminals are not happy and reckon Ray will grass them up.

The film has a heavy dose of toilet humour as Ray tries to stop himself from defecating. For such as simple tale, the writers have packed quiet a lot of plot and deliver it with a crafty way.

This is a really well made film; the plot surrounds Ray who is a bit on the 'slow' side. He plays a bit of 'footie' at his local club and mends electrical goods for a living. Still at home with his parents who are having financial problems. So when he gets made an offer by one of his closest mates to earn some easy cash – he decides to go for it.

It involves a trip to Thailand and more importantly a return trip with a rather full stomach. What follows is a story that had me totally gripped. There are some truly disgusting scenes here too so really make sure you are nowhere near food while this is on – and for a while after.

The acting is all top notch - Ray is played brilliantly by Angus Samson ('Fargo') but the real plaudits have to go to the perfectly horrible cop – Det. Tom Croft played by the superb Hugo Weaving ('Mystery Road') who oozes bad cop in a way that balances sleaze with old school policing and the tension is pounding for most of thisthriller – completely recommended.