From Deseret News archives:
Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, The
Film review
"The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" recalls other cinematic Western tales, including Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning revenge-thriller "Unforgiven" and John Sayles' trenchant mystery "Lone Star."
And it has a story element in common with "Weekend at Bernie's."
Obviously, this unusual buddy picture which marks the feature-filmmaking debut of Tommy Lee Jones is bound to pale in comparison to Eastwood and Sayles' films, which are arguable classics of the genre.
On the other hand, it's miles better than "Weekend at Bernie's."
"The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" features some solid, if not spectacular, performances, as well as a bizarre and dark sense of humor which come in handy when the film starts meandering and runs out of steam.
The title character is a Mexican immigrant (Julio Cesar Cedillo) who is shot and killed by Mike Norton (Barry Pepper), an overzealous border patrol officer. So Mike's bosses work with local police, including Sheriff Belmont (Dwight Yoakam), to handle the potentially racially dividing investigation.
Screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga has already explored this "fractured narrative" structure in both "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams." And this story is so overstuffed with characters that it can't possibly follow all of their story "arcs" to logical conclusions. (When Yoakam's duty-bound sheriff disappears in the second half, he's sorely missed.)
Jones' direction is as low-key as his acting style. The usually one-note Pepper does seem to have fun once his character becomes hysterical.
"The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" is rated R for frequent use of strong sexual profanity, some strong scenes of violence (shootings, racially motivated beatings and an animal attack), some gore, simulated sex and other sexual contact (and glimpses of pornographic movie footage), brief female nudity, use of a few racial epithets and some crude sexual slang terms, and some brief drug content (references). Running time: 116 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com
Comments
Find a Movie Theater
- Hall, Jorgensen honored by MWC 12:58 p.m.
- 'Start knocking heads' on healthcare 12:27 p.m.
- Pac-10 reinstates Oregon's Blount 12:25 p.m.
- I-84 crash closes lanes in Canyon 12:01 p.m.
- Prosecutors have Cardall report 11:58 a.m.
- Stocks jump to new highs 11:56 a.m.
- Gulf Coast preps as Ida weakens 11:50 a.m.
- Imam praises Ft. Hood shooter 11:47 a.m.
- High court won't stop execution 11:46 a.m.
- USU Press merges with library 11:20 a.m.
- TCU showdown has big implications
- Seniors helped BYU regroup
- TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
- Hope for single moms
- Lambert surprisingly tops news
- Bystanders framed for child porn
- Korver and Miles to be evaluated
- Utah Jazz Extra: Whose hot/not
- Newhouse Hotel, an explosive end
- TCU moves into 4th place in BCS
- Gay advocates trek to LDS office
237 - House passes health care bill
211 - Lobo suspended
176 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
153 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
130 - TCU showdown has big implications
129 - Provo company innovating engines
105 - Thousands protest health bill
104 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
98
I teach at a public college in another state. I was having problems with my...
Matheson will DEFINITELY not get my vote!!! I'm not in his district.
Try looking at it this way: If someone forgot to bring their lunch to work...
Get that 3rd win. I love it when every few years we have a successful year...
Yes Cats, my comment citing Margaret Thatcher was a response to...
Let's see some of these transmissions produced.
Enough said.
Vote no, plain and simple. The proposed legislation is nothing more than a...
Anonymous | 10:21 p.m. A quote from your posting... "Liberals are more...
I'm a conservative - not a republican. Republicans are dirty just like...





You can be the first to comment on this story.