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Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut is both a potent western and a powerful morality tale. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
When brash Texas border officer Mike Norton (Barry Pepper) wrongfully kills and buries the friend and ranch hand of Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones), the latter is reminded of a promise he made to bury his friend, Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cesar Cedillo), in his Mexican home town. He kidnaps Norton and exhumes Estrada's corpse, and the odd caravan sets out on horseback for Mexico. As Estrada's body begins to rot, Norton begins to unravel, but Perkins remains determined to honor his vow.
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Rating: R (Sexuality|Language|Violence)
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Genre: Adventure, Crime, Drama
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Original Language: English
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Director: Tommy Lee Jones
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Producer: Michael Fitzgerald, Luc Besson, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, Tommy Lee Jones
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Writer: Guillermo Arriaga
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Release Date (Theaters): original
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Rerelease Date (Theaters):
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $5.0M
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Runtime:
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Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
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Production Co: EuropaCorp
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News & Interviews for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Critic Reviews for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Audience Reviews for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
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An offbeat and odd morality tale that burns in your memory, Tommy Lee Jones' film nonetheless bleeds with all of the bullets and brawn masculinity exhibited in such Sam Peckinpah western classics as The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. Two years before No Country for Old Men (which Jones starred in) gave filmgoers an instant 21st century classic, one of that film's stars nailed the same serio-comic tone and stripped bare violence in a similar tale of the American West. Topical on the subjects of geopolitics and the Mexican quotient of Mexican-American without being a tutorial, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada excellently pits the very U.S. of A genre of western in a very Latin American context. In this R-rated modern western, Ranch hand Pete Perkins (Jones) looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico with the help of the careless man who shot him (Pepper). From premise to fulfilling the protagonists promise, Tommy Lee Jones delivers an A-Level directorial debut. You can hear the pitch black humor and laid-bare honesty of Cormac McCarthy in dialogue that's exchanged like bullets in a shootout...but it's screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga and not the author of No Country for Old Men, All the Pretty Horses, and Blood Meridian, who's dreamt up this world that's at times stark and raving mad but never completely stark raving mad. Jones' Pete is a man of scruples, as is the actor's direction. He tames Arriagas rugged dusty landscape and nails a role that's just as much a scrupulous oddball. Bottom line: All the Pretty Horsesense
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I don't think I really have much to say about this movie but it is a well-written and incredibly well-acted movie. It features one Tommy Lee Jones' more understated and heartfelt performances as this man who's only trying to do right by his friend after he was unjustly murdered by a border patrolman. I think what the movie does well is that, while, Barry Pepper's character is kind of an asshole, at first, what happened really was an accident, as he's clearly haunted by the fact that he killed an innocent man. The film is particularly powerful when you're constantly reminded of Melquiades through the use of flashbacks and seeing how he and Pete develop a close friendship, that adds some depth to the movie. The movie also touches on themes of prejudice, obsession, redemption and morality. So it tackles a lot of issues and it does so in an intelligent manner. I was also surprised by the amount of comedy that is in the film. It's not like it's meant to be a comedy, but the are scenes here and there that keep the movie from feeling too serious. And I thought that was a smart choice. Again, it adds a little light touch to what is an incredibly dark movie. I also thought the ending, or the climactic act of the movie, which sees Tommy's character finding out that Melquiades lied to him about where he lived and about having a family and seeing how his denial leads to him creating his own little town in order to bury Melquiades. I thought this aspect of the film also added a good deal of mystery to the character that you grew so fond of throughout the flashbacks. You're not sure what Melquiades was up to in Mexico and what made him escape to Texas, so that adds a little twist to the film's story, which is already really good. I thought this movie was great. It has some excellent acting, special mention goes to Barry Pepper who did an incredible job, and a great storytelling. I'd definitely recommend this flick, it's certainly underrated.
jesse o Super Reviewer -
I have no issue with the supporting cast who are fabulous but Jones appears preachy in his director's debut. Clearly as the director, he was not keeping Jones the actor in check.
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Featuring Arriaga's traditional broken narrative, Three Burials is a very well pulled drama/western about morality and redemption, though don't expect a dark approach as in 21 Grams or Amores Perros. It actually has some pretty funny moments that help to distract the viewer from the more serious themes. Boosted by another great performance from Tomy Lee Jones and great shots of the desert, Three Burials shouldn't pass unnoticed.
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