Barry Pepper, Cecilia Suárez, Dwight Yoakam

A man is shot and quickly buried in the high desert of west Texas. The body is found and reburied in Van Horn's town cemetery. Pete Perkins, a local ranch foreman kidnaps a Border Patrolman and forces...( read more  read more... ) him to disinter the body. With his captive in tow and the body tied to a mule Pete undertakes a dangerous and quixotic journey into Mexico.

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81% liked it

27,677 ratings

Critics

84% liked it

134 critics

R, 2 hrs. 1 min.

Directed by: Tommy Lee Jones

Release Date: February 3, 2006

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DVD Release Date: June 6, 2006

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Flixster Reviews (1,570)


  • September 24, 2009
    Fantastic film, maybe the best film of 2006. One of the best films of the millennium so far even! A future classic that come highly recommended, a modern western, superior but similar to No country for old Men. Brilliant!
  • June 22, 2009
    A decent story about a man who is wrongly shot and killed and his friend who travels on horseback to Mexico to bury him. The movie starts out interesting and does a good job of intertwining a couple of different characters. As it moves along though, it loses some of it's steam ...( read more)and becomes dragged out a little. Visually the movie was appealing. The acting was solid and Tommy Lee Jones seems to excel in this style of film. I think this will be very hit and miss depending on the style of film you like. Overall it was a decent film that was lacking a better and more powerful ending.
  • January 13, 2009
    "Promise me one thing, Pete. If I die over here, carry me back to my family and bury me in my home town. I don't want to be buried on this side among all the fucking billboards. "

    A powerful and provocative film about redemption, The Three Burials of Melquiades Est...( read more)rada is one of the surprise hits of 2005. This film is about the untimely death of Melquiades Estrada, a Mexican befriended by a local rancher in a small Texas border town hellbent on administering justice to a new hot-headed, racist Border Patrolmen who's poor judgment and itchy trigger finger inadvertently cost Estrada his life.

    Set in the beautiful backdrop of Texas and Mexico, this powerful and spellbinding film is a great story of redemption. It also displays the unbreakable bond of friendship, even in the face of intolerance where to befriend a Mexican was frowned upon.

    This film strives off the charisma of it's two leads: Tommy Lee Jones as the vigilante rancher and Barry Pepper as the ill-tempered Border Patrolman. However, Pepper really steals the show here. No disrespect to Jones, but his character was fairly one dimensional, and he plays that kind of character with ease. Pepper's transformation from a narrow-minded bigot to a broken man begging for deliverance was absolutely brilliant. Pepper proves once again that he is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. There are also some strong performances in smaller roles from January Jones as Pepper's neglected wife and Dwight Yoakem as the town sheriff.

    Points taken off for some minor plot holes, including the fact that Lee inevitably would've been caught by police before reaching his long destination in Mexico.

    Regardless, watch this for the riveting performance by Barry Pepper.

    "I'm sorry, Melquiades! For taking your life, I'm sorry! "
  • October 29, 2008
    An excellent film about redemption, revenge and friendship. Jones gives a powerful and understated performance and is well supported, especially by the two female leads. The direction and writing are taught with barely a wasted word or shot. Whilst there are few real surprises th...( read more)ere is some wonderful ambiguity that gives the viewer the chance to think for themselves. Each of the characters is flawed in their own way, but through their interactions with each other they provide something the other needs - redemption, friendship, someone who believes in them, a purpose. Let's hope Jones has a few more ideas in his bag and this is the start of something good from him.

    Barry Pepper also gives a very surprising performance. I love him in 'Private Ryan' and I can say the same thing here. He is Hollywood's one of the most underrated actors.
  • October 19, 2008
    Tommy Lee Jones steps up to the plate and takes a big first swing with 'Three Burials.' Thie movie captures the old Peckinpah style of the rugged west , combining it with Guillermo Arriaga's moody and layered script. This is a film that could have took a political mood and dealt ...( read more)with the issues of border security and the like, but it smartly refrains from doing so and instead focuses sharply on the heart of society itself - people.

    Tommy Lee Jones plays Pete, a rancher with few friends, with his closest friends being a woman from town, and a man from Mexico. The woman is the wife of a local diner owner, Rachael (Melissa Leo). She engages in extramarital affairs not because she doesn't love her husband, but out of boredom. Pete loves her, but she loves her husband. And possibly the sheriff, and possibly Pete.
    The other emotional connection in Pete's life, the Mexican, is Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo), an illegal immigrant who finds work and friendship with Pete. Pete loves him like a son, or a brother, or friend, or a combination of all three. Barry Pepper plays Mike, the new border patrolman in town. He is brutal. Perhaps by nature, or not. He is bored; he passes the time sitting outside of his jeep looking at dirty mags. His wife, Lou Ann (January Jones), is also bored. She feels isolated and separated from her husband. She spends her time at the local diner and befriends Rachael. While she sits at home, her husband, the rookie border patrolman, makes a stupid mistake and tries in vain to hide it. The whole town is bored, even the police and the border guards. They find out, the police find out, and in a small town people talk, but more importantly people listen because they have nothing else to do. Pete finds out about Mike's mistake and sets out to carry out Mel's last wishes and bury him in his home town back in Mexico.

    The story has its characters and connects them in ways that we don't always suspect they will connect. No one is a cardboard cut out. Even better, no one is simple. Each character is complex and has their own distinct feelings. A major theme is alienation. The characters are alienated not only from each other, but from themselves.
    Earlier i stated that he film took the right road and avoids making a blatant political message. The movie still carries a message though. It is a commentary on life and society.

    The story has parallels to Peckinpah's 'Bring me the Head of Alfedo Garcia.' It features a man who makes a long journey with a dead body, cares for it and tries to preserve it, even talks to the body sometimes.
    The film has some great cinematography as well, harkening the look of many a Peckinpah or John Ford film. The score is also quite lovely, and suits the mood perfectly. The acting is wonderful, and I have to say that Tommy Lee Jones has rarely ever been better than he is here. Barry Pepper also gives a solid performance.
    This is Tommy Lee Jones first directing credit in major film and he knocks this one out of the park.
  • November 1, 2009
    Even though the plot takes many many twists that leave the enough dizzy enough to lose interest in it; the film redeems itself just like Barry Corbin when he pleads for forgiveness. He was the real eye-opener in this movie, along with Guillermo Arriaga's tremendous writing. Tommy...( read more) Lee Jones is excellent, but he directed better than acted, cause this one belongs to Corbin alone.
  • October 31, 2009
    Dirigido pelo Tommy Lee Jones e com roteiro do Guillermo Arriaga, esse filme me lembra um pouco No Country for Old Men, com essa coisa de imigrantes mexicanos. O interessante do filme é que ele mostra a diferença de tratamento entre imigrantes mexicanos nos EUA e imigrantes norte...( read more)-americanos no México, o que questiona o tratamento por parte do governo norte-americano quanto a questão da imigração.
  • October 27, 2009
    Solid movie. great cinematography.
  • October 17, 2009

  • October 3, 2009
    Really good movie, Tommy Lee Jones does an excellent job in this!

Critic Reviews


February 9, 2006
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Wily, sad, funny, and full of life. full review

February 3, 2006
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

Jones, directing his first feature, finds the right note in every scene, bringing Arriaga's elegant cipher to life. full review

February 3, 2006
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

As satire, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada isn't funny or illuminating, and as a drama it has only a few scattered moments. full review

February 2, 2006
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada tells the kind of story that John Huston or Sam Peckinpah might have wanted to film. full review

January 30, 2006
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

What, exactly, is the devil in Mr. Jones? full review

December 16, 2005
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Three Burials is just a cluster of symbols, and what they symbolize is this: a director who has seen too many European art films. full review

November 30, 2005
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Sam Peckinpah lives! full review

View more The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • WrellikW
    July 15, 2008
    This page, being in yellow, sucks! It's hard on the eyes and the text is hard to read. Bad judgement on this page is the same bad judgement used in the movie.

    Take care all,
    William
    Zzzzzoooooooommmmmm!

    "It is easy to be brave, from a distance." -American Indian Proverb-
  • jerrynation
    June 9, 2006
    Unpredictable. Original. Unforgettable. Tommy Lee Jones is a great man in movies this time he develope a well told story in the most entertain way. I enjoy this movie a lot.

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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada Trivia

The Three Burials of Melquiades E... Trivia


  • In this movie director and star Tommy Lee Jones plays a a local Texas ranch foreman that kidnaps a border patrolman. That border patrol man is Barry Pepper.  Answer »
  • To which Mexican town does Tommy Lee Jones take Barry Pepper and a corpse in 'The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada'?  Answer »
  • In which movie Guillermo Arriaga didnt work with Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu ?  Answer »
  • What famous country artist turned actor starred in Tommy Lee Jones' film "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada?"  Answer »

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