The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)

Director:

Tommy Lee Jones

Writer (WGA):

Guillermo Arriaga (written by)

Release Date:

3 February 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Western

Tagline:

Nobody is beyond redemption.

Plot:

Ranch hand Pete Perkins looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico.

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Mexican | Texas | Desert | Promise

Awards:

4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	Pete Perkins
Barry Pepper	...	Mike Norton
Julio Cedillo	...	Melquiades Estrada (as Julio César Cedillo)
Dwight Yoakam	...	Belmont
January Jones	...	Lou Ann Norton
Melissa Leo	...	Rachel
Levon Helm	...	Old Man with Radio
Mel Rodriguez	...	Captain Gomez
Cecilia Suárez	...	Rosa
Ignacio Guadalupe	...	Lucio
Vanessa Bauche	...	Mariana
Irineo Alvarez	...	Manuel (as Irineo Álvarez)
Guillermo Arriaga	...	Juan
Josh Berry	...	Border Patrolman
Rodger Boyce	...	Salesman

Also Known As:

Three Burials: The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Australia) (DVD box title) (UK) (DVD box title)
The 3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada (USA) (alternative spelling)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (International: English title)
Trois enterrements (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence and sexuality.

Runtime:

121 min | Argentina:121 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | Turkey:107 min (TV version)

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | UK:15 | Netherlands:12 | Ireland:15A | Brazil:14 | Argentina:16 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) (Canadian Home Video rating) | Germany:12 (f) | USA:R (No. 42191) | Finland:K-13

Filming Locations:

Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA

Company:

Europa Corp.

Trivia:

The producers tried to sway Tommy Lee Jones from using Mexican pastel colors for the title cards, but he told them he wouldn't budge on his decision.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The story takes place in the Big Bend area of Texas but there is a banner in the restaurant for the Van Horn Lion's Club. Van Horn is a long way from the Big Bend.

Quotes:

Mike Norton: [reassuring Lou Ann] Your my red hot mamma...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Three Burials: Making the Music (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

This Could Be The One

The road to redemption

As if we were being thrown smack in the middle of a Cormac McCarthy novel, >>Three Burials<< powerfully serves up the borderlands milieu through its bipolar texture and tone: both graphic and dreamy, tragic and comical. That fusion is accented by memorable characters and age-old themes: immigration and the Rio Grande; Spanish and English and Spanglish; violence and personal relationships; coyotes and border patrol; a tired waitress with a Chekhovian longing and an inept sheriff with nervous problems; a young, blonde wife terribly out of place, and an aging, rugged cowboy firmly in place (>>Ride the High Country<<, anyone?). Finally, the film centers on a classically picaresque story of personality development through trials and tribulations: Pete (Tommy Lee Jones), on a flashback-laden quest for his own way of justice, dragging along the rapidly disintegrating corpse of his friend, brings about the personal journey of a trigger-happy, macho-racist border patrol officer (played by Barry Pepper) from guilt to redemption... Wonderfully borderlands, comparable to >>Lone Star<<. Watch it.