Movie Review: The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Liz heard good things about this film and so we put it on our Netflix queue. Illegal immigrant West Texas ranch worker Melquiades (Julio Cesar Cedillo) is killed by a hotheaded Border Patrol rookie (Barry Pepper), and Melquiades's best friend, a fellow ranch worker named Pete (Tommy Lee Jones, who also directed), takes it on himself to secure justice and fulfill a promise he made to make sure Melquiades is buried in his hometown in northern Mexico.

The movie touches on themes of borders and other barriers, and how people can make connections across them; it also features a lot of eye candy in the form of stark, beautiful landscapes in the Big Bend and the Mexican state of Coahuila, as well as skimpily clad actress January Jones. Unfortunately, the movie is ultimately a poor cousin to Lone Star, both in themes, location, narrative style (lots of flashbacks, which Sayles handled much more deftly), even down to the same touches of directorial mannerism. Three Burials also had extraneous elements--the Border Patrol and the old blind cowboy; the packhorse stumbling off the mesa; the multiple appearances of Mariana--that slowed the pace more than was needed.

Neither Liz nor I were impressed. If you're looking for a film capturing the feel of West Texas, Lone Star is the better choice (or Friday Night Lights if high school football interests you). Pass on Three Burials unless you're a huge Tommy Lee Jones fan.