The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada | Rodger Boyce, Sonny Carl Davis

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada | Rodger Boyce, Sonny Carl Davis | An outstanding variant on "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" and "Pulp Fiction"

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The Three Burials ...

	The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada Rodger Boyce, Sonny Carl Davis Sony Pictures, 2006 average customer review:based on 100 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

He Was A Friend Of Mine

All through this exquisite movie the words of Bob Dylan made a sweet refrain in the recesses of my brain:

"He was a friend of mine
He was a friend of mine
Every time I think about him now
Lord I just can't keep from cryin'
'Cause he was a friend of mine

He never done no wrong
He never done no wrong
A thousand miles from home
And he never harmed no one
And he was a friend of mine"

In 'The Three Burials of Melquiades',Tommy Lee Jones has brought to us the rough, stark, beautiful region between Texas and Mexico, the real West, in all its glory. You can smell the small dusty bordertown where the action is centered. The Border Patrol- tough men willing and ready to run all the illegals back to wherever they came. Illegal immigration is merely a fact of life as is the ranch-hands-with-cell-phones irony. This is a story of a friendship and the modern West of country songs, diners, motels and frustated people.

The first half of the movie we meet the characters, Pete, Tommy Lee Jones, a foreman at a local ranch. He has developed a deep abiding friendship with Melquiades Estrada, Julio Cesar Cedillo, an illegal who works with Pete. Rachel, Melissa Leo, is a married waitress at her husband's diner, who connects with several of the local men. Dwight Yoakam plays an impotent sheriff. Barry Pepper is a young nasty border patrolman and January Jones his bored,sexy young wife. Levon Helm, in the acting role of his career, of 'The Band' plays an old, blind Anglo.

Someone has killed Melquiades and Pete had promised at one time to bring his body back to his small town in Mexico. Much of this is told in flashbacks and then back to the present. Pete suspects the new Border patrolman, Mike and abducts him, steals Melquiades body and together they travel by horseback to Mexico. Pete becomes stronger, Mike's character is stripped of all pretense, and the beautiful country takes over. Those left behind begin their own search into their souls. The Border patrol starts a search, the sherriff start a search and then quits to go to Seaworld. Metaphors abound, the Anglo westerners are the bad guys and the Mexicans are the good guys. The story is The journey and by its end will involve more discoveries and more surprises; it is the same kinds of landscapes we picture when we read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.

A movie to be seen several times to grasp all the nuances. The acting is superb, and we are drawn into the story again and again. The music subdued but I found myself singing along with Freddie Fender:

"I'll be there anytime you need me
By your side to dry away
Every teardrop that you cried
And if he ever leaves you blue
Just remember I love you
And I'll be there before the next teardrops fall
And,I'll be there before the next teardrops fall"

Highly Recommended. prisrob 4-28-07

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An outstanding variant on "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" and "Pulp Fiction"

Clearly influenced by Sam Peckinpah's "Bring Me the Head of Alfred Garcia" and filmmaking revolution resulting from Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction", "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" is a masterful dramedy built around an inadvertant killing, friendship, revenge and loyalty.

Tommy Lee Jones plays the lead role and directed the film, which takes place in a Texas border town where he has a friendship with the title character. Barry Pepper (Roger Maris from "61*") plays a dimwitted and ruthless border guard who accidentally kills Jones' friend.

What results is an odyssey to return the dead friend to the place in Mexico he wants to be buried, a trip through badlands and snake bites with border guards chasing the pair throug the bleak Mexican landscape no film viewer has likely ever seen on celluloid. The finale is a cathartic end to the journey that creates some satisfaction amidst the rancor and chaos of the previous 100 minutes.

What makes this film unique and memorable is Jones' adept direction to represent his personal quest for meaning after his friend's unlikely demise. Underlining the story's drama is the relationship of both men to the women in their lives and how those relationships are altered by the odyssey.

Played out in loosely catalogued flashback and real time scenes, the script mimics the technique that made "Pulp Fiction" famous. Chris Menges' cinematography adds a dimension to the story that cannot be denied. Using the brilliant Texas and Mexico sun, every scene is perfectly lit in lengthy vistas of landscapes no one would choose.

"Three Burials" uses humor, irony, unpredictability and morality to tell a story that is unusual, incredible and simultaneously realistic. As an actor, Jones is understated yet resolute. As a director, his vision is of friendship that is unyielding and absolute, regardless of circumstance. This is a film that achieves much at every level, is exceptionally memorable, bears multiple viewings, and is one of the best movies of its type.

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The Lake of Fire

I loved this movie and found it more spiritually meaningful and full of Christ than the Passion. For those of us who know that Christ is truly the Savior of ALL men and that ALL men will bow and confess that Jesus is Lord...this movie shows just how it's done.

Barry Pepper's character is full of the carnality and fleshly lusts of men until an agent of Christ (the elect) leads him straight through the Lake of Fire. Yes, these are all straight from Scripture. This may not happen to all men in the flesh however. Some will receive this blessing after the death of the flesh.

The Lake of Fire is not endless punishment as taught by most Christians but a spiritually purifying fiery trial where our deepest sin will be revealed and cleansed.

The end of the movie is awesome. Spiritually cleansing and uplifting. It's not for children of course.

The commentary however is awful and shows that Tommy Lee Jones has no clue what a masterpiece of Scripture he has created through the grace and sovereignty of God. It is also proves why commentaries should include a critic, a scholar, or anyone who has a clue besides the actors babbling about how great the colors are.

Watch this movie and know that Christ will be doing this same thing to us all...bringing us to righteousness and into the image of God.

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A great modern-day Western

Three Burials is a movie that should have been seen by more moviegoers in the theaters. The superb cinematography coupled by the great acting makes it worthy of big-screen viewing. Nevertheless, the movie still retains its emotional impact and poignancy even on the small screen, and it deserves to find a following through rentals.

At its heart, the movie is about a friendship between two men, who are from different countries but develop a strong emotional intimacy because of their shared ethos and love of the land. However, the story develops into one that parallels The Odyssey in terms of the journey undertaken (even Tommy Lee Jones alludes to one character as "The Oracle" in the director's commentary), and it evokes biblical themes of grace and redemption.

Motifs that combine both the absurd and the divine permeate this movie. There are moments that make you laugh aloud and cringe at the same time. At center is the corpse of Melquiades Estrada, who plays an ever-present role in providing both serious and comic scenarios.

Tommy Lee Jones is phenomenal in this movie. For the most part, he says very little. He's just a man who wants to do the right thing and whose code of values is very straightforward. Barry Pepper does a great job of playing a man who might eventually understand the meaning of redemption. The relationship between Jones and Pepper is one that is layered and complex. A palpable tension and anxiety exists as they enter into desolate and dangerous landscapes. What exactly will revenge entail? And do things are actually as they appear? More questions than answers actually arise as the journey continues.

This movie is GREAT. I love the Western genre, and this is one of the very best in recent memory.

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One of the best westerns I've seen in years

Tommy Lee Jones has made a wonderful movie in The Three Burials of
Melquiades Estrada. He draws a striking contrast between the way
his character, Pete, feels about Mexican laborers, and the way others think
they are not really human or that they don't matter. The trip to
Mexico is like a little bit of Shakespeare, full of triumph, tragedy and irony. I would highly recommend this movie!

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

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