The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Tags: realism, revenge, murder, violence

Plot synopsis:
South of Texas, in the desert. A jeep driven by one man wearing army clothes stops on the road. The man and his buddy see coyotes in the distance eating something behind some rocks. The buddy shoots the coyote, and they both go to see what's happening.THE FIRST BURIAL OF MELQUÍADES ESTRADAPeter "Pete" Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) goes to a south Texas hospital to find out what the forensics say about that death of his friend Melquíades Estrada (Julio César Cedillo), a Mexican cowboy hired by Perkins as his aid at the ranch where he is a foreman. Pete throws up because the corpse of Melquiades is badly decomposed from having been buried in a shallow grave. Police officers are busy running after immigrants and flirting with their girlfriends, and thus take no interest in this obvious murder case.A border patrolman, Mike Norton (Barry Pepper), promises his wife Lou Ann Norton (January Jones) a nice little house after moving to their Texas border town, Van Horn. Later he becomes very violent with one of the Mexican immigrants. She (Vanessa Bauche) was trying to run away during a crossing, but she stays back to defend her husband. Mike hits the lady with excessive brutality.Pete talks to another of the patrolmen. He's come back to the location of the murder and found .223 bullet casings in the area. However, captain Frank Belmont (Dwight Yoakam) doesn't want to worry about that; he is more concerned about getting a quiet breakfast from diner waitress Rachel (Melissa Leo), a married lady with whom he is having an affair.Violent Mike is told off by his boss, Captain Gómez (Mel Rodríguez), because there may be problems arising from his vile treatment of prisoners. When Mike goes home, his wife Lou Ann is more interested in her diet - although she is pin thin - and watching a soap opera than talking to him or even having sex with him, something which she allows him to do (for the few seconds he lasts) while she is watching TV. No passion there. When he finishes, Lou Ann is still looking at Mary (Jourdan Henderson) and John (Spike Spencer), the soap opera stars who are discussing their marital problems.Pete approaches one of the patrolmen and asks about the caliber of their ammunition, and he answers that it's .223. Although Pete doesn't say so at that moment, that detail makes him think that the his friend Melquíades was killed by one of the patrolmen of the area.THE SECOND BURIAL OF MELQUÍADES ESTRADAFinally, Melquíades is buried in an undignified grave at Van Horn's local cemetery.Mike is about to look at some porn and shit on some rocks during his border watch, but he is scared away because he hears shooting. He runs away with his trousers down and picks up his rifle. He shoots somebody.The police seem to think that Melquíades must have been involved in something fishy, but Pete does know for sure that he wasn't.Lou Ann complains that she's bored all the time. She used to be the most popular girl at school, and Mike used to be the most sought-after guy as well. Rachel consoles her, saying it takes time to get used to life along the border, or adult life, for that matter.Rachel invites Lou Ann on one of her motel flings with Pete (whom she also fools around with), and he brings his friend Melquíades to entertain Lou Ann. Being new to each other, they feel strange, until they start dancing to the sound of gentle country music.Melquíades is shooting a coyote to protect his goats, a sound that scares Mike. As it turns out, Mike shot and killed Melquíades. Two patrolmen, Belmont and Gomez, are discussing it while Rachel listens to their conversation. She tells Pete. Pete demands that Gomez go arrest Mike, but he won't do that. Pete starts watching Mike's home. Their neighbor (Karen Jones) is a lady who looks a bit demented, always taking out her quiet dog and staring at their neighbors.Pete decides to enter Mike's home at night. He points his gun at Mike in front of Lou Ann. He tells Lou Ann what her husband has done. Pete forces Mike to dig up Mel's body. He plans to force Mike to take the body to the home where Melquíades once lived. Pete had promised his friend Mel that he would bury him in Mexico, in the small town where he was born, called El Tostón.Pete forces Mike to go riding on a horse with him until they reach the town, while Mel's body is carried wrapped in a tent on another horse.THE JOURNEYThe rest of the patrolmen go after Pete and Mike. Lou Ann seems to be all right. They all think that Pete's crazy, but Frank Belmont won't shoot him when they have the opportunity. One of the horses falls down a steep cliff. The patrolmen's car also gets stuck on the rocky dry soil.Pete forces Mike to stay close to the rotting corpse of Melquíades, which obviously stinks. Mike wakes Pete up because carnivorous ants are eating up Mel's body. Having already filled the body with antifreeze to preserve it, Pete then pours gasoline on the body and lights it to burn the ants away.A blind old man (Levon Helm) is listening to the radio in Spanish although he can't understand what he hears. He gives them shelter, food and water. He tells them that his son used to visit him once a month with food and money, but the son got cancer and probably died because of that. The blind old man asks them to shoot him, but Pete refuses on principle.Mike tells Pete that he's innocent, because Mel shot him. Pete falls off his horse, and Mike, instead of helping him, tries to run away. Pete is not hurt. Pete does not shoot Mike while he runs away, although he had the opportunity to kill him. Pete and his three horses go after him, slowly. Mike hides in a small cave, but a snake bites him, so he ends up screaming for help.A whole troop of police cars and helicopters follow Mike and Pete. They question the blind man, who tells them he saw nobody. The police leave. Meanwhile, a group of Mexicans has discovered Mike, still in his small cave and crying for help. They meet up with Pete, who asks whether they know anybody who could save Mike, and the leader suggests a lady "who is good with herbs." Pete hasn't got the 3,000 dollars which the leader requires to cross the border from the USA to Mexico. They reach an agreement.Pete puts a lasso around Mike and forces him to cross the river into Mexico. They seek out Mariana (Vanessa Bauche), who turns out to be the lady Mike beat so severely at the beginning of the film. At first she refuses to help the pathetic patrolman. Pete asks her to cure him as he needs to keep him alive. She heals him, but possibly in the most painful way possible.Lou Ann has meanwhile decided that enough is enough, Mike is beyond redemption. She says she is going to leave him forever, and she finally does so. Pete phones Rachel, who tells him that the patrolmen are after him and that Lou Ann has left. Pete asks Rachel to come down to Mexico and marry him, but she prefers to stay with Bob (Richard Jones). Pete is disappointed because she has told him that she loved him more than Bob.A sad Pete tells Melquíades' body that he's about to reach home.They make their way to El Tostón. They find a group of cowboys watching a soap opera on an old TV set, the same episode from when Mike had sex with Lou Ann in the kitchen. This makes Mike remember and cry. The cowboys asks what the performers are saying.Pete asks two women (Maya Zapata and Montserrat de León) about the woman in a photograph he has of Melquíades. Pete finds the woman and learns that Mel's ranch was in an area called Jiménez, outside of El Tostón, but it no longer exists. At last Pete brings Mike to what remains of Jiménez, the ruins of a house. Pete recognises the place for the beauty it was.THE THIRD BURIAL OF MELQUÍADES ESTRADAPete and Mike try to build a new roof with some brunches and twigs, and mend some walls. Mike has to dig a tomb with a piece of stone. Finally, they bury him.Pete makes Mike kneel in front of the tomb and he forces Mike to say to Melquíades that he's sorry. He finally gives in - after Pete had to shoot several times. Mike cries that it was a mistake, that he didn't want to kill him, and that he's sorry.Mike falls asleep. Pete wakes him up with a kick. Pete lets Mike go.Mike admits that he always thought that Pete would end up killing him. To that, Pete simply replies that Mike can keep one of the horses. The horse is tied to the tree on which they put the photograph of Melquíades and his family.Mike shouts after Pete had already gone - asking him if he will be all right.---originated by KrystelClaire.

Review: Although it takes place in modern day Texas, its main character Pete Perkins, superbly played by Tommy Lee Jones, seems to be living resolutely in the past.
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada(2005) ****Tommy Lee Jones steps up to the plate and takes a big first swing with 'Three Burials.' This is a movie that captures the old Peckinpah-esquire style of the rugged west and combines wonderfully with Guillermo Arriaga's moody and alienated script.
A diablo of a marketing challenge: a bilingual movie, with an impossible-to-remember title, a story of white trash, Mexican wetbacks (that's the film's language), cruel Border Patrol "cowboys," and Tommy Lee Jones as the director and the uniquely memorable lead character...
For the next hour and a half, however, there is a crescendo of images and situations hitting the viewer over the head, amazing and moving.Taking the corpse of a friend - and his very much alive killer - back to Mexico for a "proper burial" and to mete out justice, Jones' voyage is a quirky, epic adventure, based on the brilliant writing of Guillermo Arriaga (of "21 Grams"), and filmed to perfection by Chris Menges (of "The Killing Fields" and "The Mission").Besides Jones (who won the 2005 Cannes Festival best actor award for this), "3 Burials" features fabulous performances by Barry Pepper ("25 Hours"), Julio Cedillo, and a large group of remarkable supporting actors on both sides of the border.Jones says something in the production notes that could sound arrogant or affected...
Directed by Tommy Lee Jones, marking his first time behind the camera, with a screen play by Guillermo Arriaga, this is a film that tells a story about an murder in a troubled border area between the US and Mexico.
We get to meet the cruel Norton and his bored wife Lou Ann. It also serve as the way to tell us how Pete and Norton meet.Tommy Lee Jones, with his rugged looks, brings a tremendous presence to his own film.
Julio Cedillo plays the dead man, Melquiades Estrada.Tommy Lee Jones is blessed to be working on his first venture with the great cinematographer Chris Menges.
The editing of Roberto Silvi sets the tone for the early part of the movie."The Three Deaths of Melquiades Estrada" shows us a mature Tommy Lee Jones who has learned his lesson well in front of the camera.
Written by Guillermo Arriaga, also writer of "Amores Perros" and "21 grams" and the first movie of Tommy Lee Jones as a director (but also lead actor), "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" tells the story of Ranch hand Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) who wants to fulfill the promise he made to his recently deceased Mexican friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico.
Finally, the film centers on a classically picaresque story of personality development through trials and tribulations: Pete (Tommy Lee Jones), on a flashback-laden quest for his own way of justice, dragging along the rapidly disintegrating corpse of his friend, brings about the personal journey of a trigger-happy, macho-racist border patrol officer (played by Barry Pepper) from guilt to redemption...
Tommy Lee Jones' film about a rancher (Jones) who keeps his promise to his friend and co-worker Melquiades Estrada who wanted to be buried in his homeland in Mexico.
Now, he has joined some of his famous and acknowledged colleges like Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Denzel Washington, and made the step from actor, to actor & director in his own very first motion picture - The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.In this movie, Tommy plays the lead as Pete Perkins, who under some mysterious circumstances, finds out that his best friend has got killed.
This above average film concerns about Pete Perkins , a foreman (Tommy Lee Jones) from a Texas town , nearly the Mexican border .
When Melquiades's body is accidentally found one week later, his best friend, the ranch foreman Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones), claims the body to fulfill his promise and bury Melquiades in his hometown Jimenez and presses the local sheriff Belmont (Dwight Yoakam) to find the killer.
When Melquiades is shot and killed by a hot-head border patrol guard named Mike Norton(Barry Pepper), Pete kidnaps him and, the body of Melquiades in tow, heads for Mexico, where he intends to honor his promise to his friend and bury him in his home town.
The movie starts strongly, with bits and pieces told in an out of whack chronology, and a host of other characters introduced whose roles in the story we wait to discover: a local police officer and friend to Pete (Dwight Yoakam), a waitress in a diner and mistress to Pete (Melissa Leo), the young and bored wife of Norton (January Jones).
But sadly, all of these characters dissolve from the movie (the women especially) to make way for Pete and Norton's grotesque journey for the border, that's equal parts "As I Lay Dying" and Homer's "Odyssey" (Jones even works in a meaningless sequence with a blind man who comes to the pair's aid).
I suppose Jones's message about the nobility of the Mexican race is aimed at those who need to hear it, but those who need to hear it wouldn't be watching a movie like this in the first place, which leaves the rest of us feeling preached at and talked down to."The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" is a noble effort that doesn't really work.Grade: B-.
"Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" goes just like the trilogy directed by A.G.Iñarritú but it is directed by Tommy Lee Jones and it's more simplistic than the other films (at least in the way the story is presented, less confusing so to speak).
The other thing in common is that all of these films are brilliantly well-made, well acted and with many great things to say.Jones stars as Pete, a rancher who wants to find out who killed his best friend, the Mexican Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo), and to fulfill his friend wishes, he needs to bury Melquiades on the other side of the border, in a place called Jimenez.
Pete and Mike will carry the decomposing body of Melquiades in a haunting and dangerous place in the middle of the desert, cross between Texas and Mexico, chased by the police and fighting lots of adversities and meeting a friendly blind man (Levon Helm) who asks them a strange request (one of the best twists in the film, pay attention to this part).Arriaga once again wrote a life changing story in his well-known style that reminds us of a magic cube, where things are and aren't connected at the same time but you gotta stick to the end to see the whole picture formed perfectly to understand its complexity.
But all that humor doesn't extinguish the drama of this great story whose major moments is when Pete remembers all the good times he had with Melquiades (in these parts everything is spoken in Spanish and Jones is very fluent in this language), and includes the promise Pete had to make that covers the whole film.Tommy Lee Jones is the man on and off screen that makes of "Three Burials..." a great memorable film that seemed to resurrect his career that was a little sleepy, and gave the opportunity of working in classics like "No Country for Old Man" and "In the Valley of Elah" (very similar films in a way).
Barry Pepper has a great performance and so does Dwight Yoakam, Melissa Leo, January Jones and Julio Cedillo in the supporting roles.A striking film about the accidents that change our lives, sometimes for good, sometimes for bad, but it is those accidents that makes us all connected.
For one, it requires the viewer to work at keeping track of the past, present and future and for another it requires laughter where humour isn't normally a response: as in red ants crawling all over a decaying corpse.The plot is loosely based on a true story but the genius is in bringing the writer Guillermo Arriaga (21 grams, Amores Perros)and freshly hatched director/talented actor, Tommy Lee Jones together in creating this cross-border cross-emotions film which goes in so many different directions.
Barry Pepper, who plays the hapless, emotionless Border Patroller, Mike Norton, has to be commended on a truly outstanding performance.The story begins in a bleak Texan town close to the Mexican border and centres on the friendship between a cattleman, Pete, played by Tommy Lee Jones, and his ranch hand, Melquiadas, in a small but significant role played by Julio Cedillo.
As with those other films it does tend to have a slow pace, but it does so give the viewer a grander scenic sense of the landscape Arriaga and Tommy Lee Jones, who direction should not be overlooked, unfold for us, a literate, mindful, grossly underrated modern western which manages to say many powerful things about the world today and human life in general..
If you are graving I mean craving for a quirky western-type film about a delusional ranch-hand who seeks revenge on a border patrol officer who killed the ranchman's best friend then you should dig into the indie film "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada".
Pistol Pete discovers that his best friend, Mexican immigrant Melquiades Estrada, is killed by a dodgy border patrol officer named Mike Norton played by Barry Pepper.
I was not interested in watching this movie because the writer was Guillermo Arriaga,who wrote the boring (in my opinion) screenplays of Amores Perros and 21 grams.However,on The three burials of Melquiades Estrada,Arriaga wrote a great script.First of all,the movie is very well written.Past and present are brilliantly combined.Tommy Lee Jones made a great work as an actor and as a director,but the best performance of the movie was made by Barry Pepper.The three burials of Melquiades Estrada is a very fun and great drama.I totally recommend this movie.Rating:9.
The first time someone takes a gander at Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, it'll be hard for them to believe that such a poignant and moving story could have been made in today's modern world of blockbusters and reality T.V. shows.
Pretty soon one might feel as if they'll soon see John Wayne cascaded upon the screen, shown holding his elbow (in a sign of loss) as he walks off into the sunset to only be remembered for his reputation and his most famous movie role, Ethan.As one might figure, Tommy Lee Jones' Pete Perkins is very similar to John Wayne's Ethan, if not only for the fact that Perkins has a solemn peacefulness to his structure, yet there's something amid his eyes that tells the audience that whoever killed his friend, Melquiades Estrada, they're going to pay dearly for their action.
The kind that tells the tale of the love for life and the honor amongst friends.So, after all of my introspections I feel that Jones' movie deserves to be sitting on the shelf next to the likes of Ford's The Searchers and Hopper's Easy Rider, for its ability to make its audience feel comfortable with the images that are placed upon the screen (just as the characters are fine with their status quo, just because they have no other choice in the matter, among the mountains that border on Texas and Mexico).
And Jones has found those actors and has directed them in a mesmerizing story about friendship and the promises extracted from it.Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) is a dusty old man with friends wherever he sets his hat - be that in a café where knows the married waitress Rachel (a brilliant Melissa Leo) as a bed partner, or on his cowboy runs where his best friend is a Mexican man Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo), a friendship bonded by promises and gifts and commitment.
I think this is the best thing I've seen Tommy Lee in but the intense Pepper (perfect for a Border Patrol Agent), the smoldering Leo (spot on for her rather small town street wise role), the folksy Yoakam (couldn't have found anyone better to play Sheriff), and the hapless Cedillo (sweet man just trying to get by, irrespective of borders), and finally the lovely January Jones (what an incredible beauty) they all held up their end as well.
What is surprising is how easily Three Burials gradually turns into a 21st century Western with the classic revenge theme played out in a most dramatic way.Tommy Lee Jones stars as Pete Perkins, a weathered cowboy somewhat past his prime who befriends a Mexican--the Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedilla) of the title--who has come across the border.
The third burial comes near the end of the film, and you can guess who's going to do the digging.What makes this work is the fine acting all around and the realistic feel created by Tommy Lee Jones.
It's an interesting tale very well presented with a lot of color and atmosphere.See this for Tommy Lee Jones who gives a fine performance while directing himself in his feature film directorial debut.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!).
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Tommy Lee Jones re-invents the western with his searing directorial debut, which only enjoyed a limited theatrical release but received much deserved rave reviews and applause from critics.The man himself plays Pete Perkins, a local rancher in the autumn of his life who whiles away his time enjoying an affair with Rachel (Melissa Leo), the wife of a local cafe owner and hanging out with his best friend Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo) horse-riding, fishing and general bonding.
Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) and Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo)are truly friends in this film, where they practically share the same THIRST for life.
Before answering the above question, I will recount TTBOME's story: Melquiades Estrada (Cedillo), an illegal immigrant working in a Texas ranch, is accidentally killed by Mike Norton (Pepper), a border patrol officer.
Using the theme of life in a border town as a background for their story, Jones and Arriaga create an amazing modern western about friendship, loyalty, and redemption.The movie starts with the discovery of the dead body of Mexican cowboy Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo) half buried in the desert near a Texan border town.
After discovering that the man who killed Melquiades is actually a member of the border patrol named Mike Norton (Barry Pepper), Pete kidnaps him and starts the long trip to the small town of Jimenez, Coahuila, where he promised to take Estrada's body as it's the place where he wanted to be buried.Writer Guillermo Arriaga builds up his quixotic tale of loyalty and redemption as a mix of road movie and modern Western that explores the nature of human relations (both real and ideal) as the two main characters travel from Texas to Mexico.
While the story inevitably does touch the subject of the political relationships between the U.S. and Mexico, surprisingly it never loses its focus and remains dedicated to his characters and their journey towards Jimenez.The film's biggest surprise comes from director Tommy Lee Jones, who in this his first theatrical feature has truly surpassed all the expectations.
However, while Jones indeed shines through the film, the real revelation is Barry Pepper, who as Mike Norton gives definitely the best performance of the movie.
It is truly an unforgettable performance that shows the young actor as a truly talented thespian.I think that what makes "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" work is the fact that Jones seemed to realize not only the potential of the script, but also his own limitations as a director, and decided to play by them without aspiring to nothing more than to create a good movie.
He kills Melquiades Estrada and tries to hide the body in the desert.Melquiades was an illegal immigrant hired by Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones, also directing) and a good man who didn't deserve to be shot down by some rookie cop.
I think you'd be hard pressed to find any better, currently.There's intensity about Jones that just shines, piercing through the most banal of stories (e.g. Men in Black) to show what he can do with good material in this movie: the almost surreal landscape of the border land between USA and Mexico, and a finely drawn cast of supporting characters, lead by Barry Pepper as the almost psychopathic border guard, Mike Norton, who inadvertently kills Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo) who, in turn, just happens to be a good friend of Pete Perkins (Jones).
Tommy Lee Jones' "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" is a rare and extraordinarily interesting modern western centering around illegal immigration at the Texas/Mexico border.
His buddy, Pete Perkins (played by Jones himself), a gringo with a natural affinity for Mexican immigrants, discovers that the killer is a violent, hotheaded young border patrol agent named Mike Norton (Barry Pepper), who, it turns out, shot Estrada more out of fear and confusion than any sense of malice.
When the movie starts, it's kind of bizarre the chase of Pete(Tommy Lee Jones)for Melquiades' killer.
Marking the directorial debut of actor Tommy Lee Jones, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a stunningly evocative film exploring the power of loyalty, forgiveness and redemption set along the borders of Texas and Mexico.
Tommy Lee Jones stars as Pete Perkins, a ranch hand whose newest employee and friend, Melquiades (Cedillo), is accidentally shot dead by a rough border patrol officer, Mike Norton (Pepper).
Tommy Lee Jones' "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" is a mournful, strange, intense movie.
Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars as Pete Perkins, the cowboy whose friend Melquiades is killed, and he wants answers.