The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada

Star Review

Unjustly overlooked in cinemas, Tommy Lee Jones’ magnificent return to the directorial saddle, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, deserves discovery on DVD. When ornery rancher Pete Perkins (Jones) learns that an employee has been shot dead in error by a dozy border patrolman, Perkins kidnaps the accidental killer and forces him to lug the corpse to the dead man's desired resting place in Mexico.
Brimming with black comedy, the film crams the middle of nowhere with vitality. Even the peripheral characters have lives to lead. Jones is his usual rock-like presence, his face both rugged and porous with the possibility of emotion, but it's as a director that he makes his presence felt most, finding previously unseen qualities in his younger performers. As the lawman's beautiful, bored wife, January Jones is striking in a characterisation that rings entirely true.
Director Jones paired with scriptwriter Arriaga equals real balance: titles appear onscreen in English and Spanish, and the film treats Mexicans with the same sure-handedness and compassion it displays towards its American leads. More than just a Western, this is a beautifully composed snapshot of the whole border region.

Mike McCahill on 15th July 2006

View all 124 of Mike McCahill’s reviews

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Film Description

Tommy Lee Jones plays a cowboy who embodies the values of the old West, living in a small Texas town bordering the U.S. and Mexico. He hires Melquiades Estrada as a ranch hand and quickly befriends the man, but when Estrada is gunned down under mysterious circumstances, Perkins takes justice into his own hands.

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DVD Extras

• Masterclass from Tommy Lee Jones and Guillermo Arriaga
• Deleted scenes
• Audio commentary from Tommy Lee Jones, Dwight Yoakam and January Jones
• Trailers.

Film Details

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones, Julio Cedillo

Technical Details