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THE
THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA |
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"I Can't Watch My
Soaps If You Keep Doing
That" |
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Directed by Tommy Lee
Jones - Written by
Guillermo Arriaga
Starring Tommy Lee
Jones, Julio Cedillo,
Barry Pepper, January
Jones
Distributed by Sony
Classics - 2005 -
121mins - Rated R |
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Richard Propes'
Review
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B+ |
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Nobody is beyond redemption. |
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What happens when a
film's most likeable character is an illegal alien from Mexico who has
an affair with a beautiful and very isolated woman recently relocated
from Cincinnati, Ohio to this small dot on the map on the Tex-Mex
border?
That's the dilemma facing first-time feature film director Tommy Lee
Jones in "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," a film that brings
to mind the best of Peckinpah and, at times, the worst of Peckinpah in
presenting the tale of Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones), a hard-working,
quietly spoken cattle rancher who forges a friendship with Melquiades
(Julio Cedillo) when the Spanish-speaking man crosses the border
seeking work as a cowboy.
How Jones handles this most difficult task is in the style of the more
intelligent Westerns, with scenery and silence, intentionally placed
words and characters that can be seen as neither good nor bad, but
most definitely human. Based upon a script by Guillermo Arriaga (Amores
Perro and 21 Grams), "Three Burials" captured prizes for the acting
Jones and Arriaga's script as 2005's Cannes Film Festival.
"Three Burials" is not really a powerful film, despite being filled
with many dramatic moments. Instead, it is a sure film that rests its
success on the absolute conviction of characters who often make
misguided decisions for honorable reasons. In the film, Melquiades is
accidentally killed by Mike Norton (Barry Pepper), an abusive, shallow
and insecure border patrol officer recently relocated from Cincinnati
with his wife Lou Ann (January Jones), by far the most beautiful thing
in a town of weathered sadness.
Norton, early on, is portrayed as an utterly brutal officer who
savagely beats those illegals who try to resist him and whose
affection-starved wife is treated more as property than prize. Lou Ann
is befriended by Rachel (Melissa Leo), a brash, straight-talking
waitress who is married yet carrying on affairs both with Perkins and
the town sheriff (Dwight Yoakam).
The challenge of "Three Burials" is in watching multiple characters
making decisions based upon inaccurate information. The audience sees
the truth, and thus it becomes nearly impossible to identify or
sympathize with any one character completely.
As Norton, Pepper gives the strongest performance of his career by
creating a character that is impossible to accept but impossible to
hate. Norton is abusive and ignorant, but in equal measure he is also
desperate and pathetic. Does he actually deserve the fate he receives
when Perkins learns that it is he who killed Melquiades? Arriaga and
Jones don't make that decision for the audience, but instead choose to
present the characters as they really are and allow the audience to
decide.
"Three Burials" also has just a hint of "Death Wish" in it, however,
it's in a more restrained, disciplined manner. In "Death Wish,"
Charles Bronson sought street justice for wrongs done to those he
loved and he exacted that justice with intensity and focus. Tommy Lee
Jones does much the same here, and offers his best performance in
years as a man who doesn't so much explode when the death of his dear
friend is swept under the rug by local law enforcement as he simply
heads out to exact his own brand of poetic justice.
Jones' performance simmers with both tenderness and toughness. When he
forces Norton to join him on his journey to honor a commitment he made
to Melquiades to bury him, should he die first, in his hometown in
Mexico, Jones practices a sort of cathartic "tough love" with Norton
in trying to get Norton to see the error of his ways. However, Jones
also displays quiet moments of tenderness along the way involving the
rapidly decomposing body of his friend and border-crossing Mexicans
they encounter along the way.
It is easy to take this journey with Perkins and Norton, because both
men are painted so vividly by Arriaga's script and Jones's direction.
Both men are flawed, though Norton's are certainly portrayed in a more
negative light. Neither man is even remotely aware how much they are
truly interconnected, and the true master stroke of Arriaga's script
is that there is no clear resolution in the film.
Does the end of the journey find Pete at peace with himself and the
loss of his friend?
No, not really.
Does Norton change his ways and undergo a spiritual transformation by
the end of the journey?
On a certain level, yes. On a deeper level, no.
Does Lou Ann ever find peace?
Who knows?
Is Melquiades at rest in the home he seemed to remember so vividly?
It's open for debate.
"The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" is a contemplation film that
begs to be chewed up, spit out, processed, talked about and felt
deeply. It is not a film you simply watch...to do so is to miss the
point. With strong performances by its leads, Jones, Cedillo and
Pepper, and subtle, effective performances from Leo, January Jones and
Dwight Yoakam in supporting roles, "Three Burials of Melquiades
Estrada" is a film shares most subtly that the war on terror occurs
mostly within and the healing journey is a journey that never really
ends. |
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© Written by Richard Propes -
Email Me! |
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Jacob Hall's
Comment
When the
drunken ramblings of the director and star of
the movie you just watched turn out to be far
more interesting and entertaining than the
movie, then there is a problem.
I really like Tommy Lee Jones, even though he
truly does play the same character in every
movie. I like the premise of this film. However,
none of it manages to come together and actually
make a movie that works. The attempts at dark
humor are entirely out of place and make the
entire affair feel like “Weekend At Bernies: The
Somber Mexican Remake.” Characters are
underwritten to the point where they say and do
anything and everything without any of it making
sense. Subplots are abandoned halfway through
the movie. Characters who seem important to the
plot simply vanish. Most of all, I can’t fathom
how Jones won Best Actor at Cannes for
essentially the same character he played in “Men
in Black” and “The Fugitive.”
Despite this, the film is beautifully shot and
rarely boring. It feels like Jones was going for
a Cormac McCarthy or Sam Peckinpah feel and he
almost achieves it at times. At the Q&A session
following the end credits, Jones proclaimed that
he wanted to “Change the course of human
thought!” and “Destroy the devil!”
I honestly would have been more entertained if
the movie had been two hours of Jones ranting.
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