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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)

tomatometer

85

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 137
Fresh: 116 | Rotten: 21

Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut is both a potent western and a powerful morality tale.

79

Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 34
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 7

Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut is both a potent western and a powerful morality tale.

audience

80

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 31,480

My Rating

Movie Info

Veteran screen star Tommy Lee Jones makes his directorial debut with the fractured tale of murder and injustice on the U.S.-Mexico border scripted by Amores Perros and 21 Grams screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. Mike Norton (Barry Pepper) is a fresh-faced Border Patrol officer in Cibolo County, TX, whose dedication to his new job leaves his lonely wife, Lou Ann (January Jones), with little to do but spend her days at the local diner, where she strikes up a friendship with waitress Rachel (Melissa

R, 2 hr. 1 min.

Western, Drama

Guillermo Arriaga, Guillermo Arriaga Jordan

Jun 6, 2006

$4.9M

Sony Pictures Classics

Cast

All Critics (143) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (119) | Rotten (22) | DVD (15)

This isn't a film that demands to be enjoyed in order to be remembered -- one way or the other, it will stick with you.

February 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

With all due respect to that important, quasi-controversial, most-honored film of last year, this is the best Western of 2005.

February 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Funny, tough, filled with cut-to-the-bone moments and bleached in the heat of the Texas sun, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a movie that sears itself into the viewer with uncompromising vision and stark approach.

February 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Detroit News | Comment
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It boasts genuinely and uniformly fine performances -- a credit to Jones the director and the actor, as well as his costars -- some stunning cinematography by the great Chris Menges and a uncompromising script by [Guillermo] Arriaga.

February 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | Comment
Detroit Free Press
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Tommy Lee Jones' big-screen directorial debut might not be the easiest film to watch, but its payoff makes it one of the better trips to the movies of the past year.

February 23, 2006 Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Comment
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Few films have ever captured the feel of the desert Southwest better than Tommy Lee Jones' The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

February 23, 2006 Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | Comment
Arizona Republic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

An offbeat, tonal take on the Western, Tommy Lee Jones' The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is best described as soulful and creative, if scattered and overambitious.

June 14, 2010 Full Review Source: Film and Felt | Comment
Film and Felt

Exerts considerable, groggy power

August 30, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comment
CinePassion

Part character study, part Peckinpah-esque border Western, part mystic epic, Three Burials traverses its uncharted territories with a humour and humanity that lighten the burden of its sadness.

June 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Breathtaking tableaus, colorful characters, and a moving message about redemption end up overshadowed by wanton insanity one might normally associate with a sadistic snuff film.

May 31, 2007 Full Review Source: BlackFilm.com | Comment
BlackFilm.com

A stunningly offbeat and finely controlled directorial debut.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comment
Film Journal International

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a spiritual exploration so profound and complex that it's impossible to take it all in with one viewing.

November 2, 2006 Full Review Source: Christianity Today | Comment

The film's color wheel is a little oversaturated, thus negating the grit Tommy Lee Jones was surely after, but the presentation is still pristine.

May 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

one of those offbeat dramas that would never have gotten produced without the clout of a major star behind it. ...a challenging, unpredictable film that never allows the audience to get too comfortable.

May 19, 2006 Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | Comment
Kalamazoo Gazette

A parable, buddy movie, western myth and road movie all rolled into one %u2013 one excellent one

May 13, 2006 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comment
Urban Cinefile

You owe it to yourself to saddle up with them.

May 12, 2006 Full Review Source: RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut fits right into his oeuvre, sometimes even feels like the brother of one of his masterpieces, "No country for old men". It tells the story of a ranger trying to solve the murder of his illegal Mexican worker, who was on the verge of becoming a real friend, and a special journey he's

June 14, 2006
ironclad1609

Super Reviewer

This is one of Tommy Lee Jones best films. About a Mexican hand he hires who is murdered and what he goes through to prove his killer and to gets revenge. A very long movie one reason it didn't get much airplay. a 5 star independent film.

June 6, 2011
bbcfloridabound
Bruce Bruce

Super Reviewer

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Latest News for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

July 13, 2007:
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The Oscar-winning blonde will anchor the directorial debut of one of the hottest screenwriters...

October 4, 2006:
"21 Grams," "Babel" Creators Innaritu and Arriaga on the Outs?
Rumor has it that the long-standing and successful partnership between Mexican director Alejandro...

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