The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)

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

Director:

Tommy Lee Jones

Writer:

Guillermo Arriaga

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, Dwight Yoakam

5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Pete Perkins
Barry Pepper	...	Mike Norton
Julio Cesar 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

Storyline

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 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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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | woman | united states of america | border | u.s. border patrol | 

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Taglines:

For justice. For loyalty. For friendship.

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, violence and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Classics [United States]

Country:

France USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

24 February 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

The 3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Filming Locations:

Shafter, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$759,792 (France), 2 December 2005

Opening Weekend USA:

$23,859, 18 December 2005

Gross USA:

$5,023,275, 4 June 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp,The Javelina Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min 121 min 107 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tommy Lee Jones's theatrical directing debut. His only other directing credit was the TV movie The Good Old Boys (1995).

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Goofs

When Norton is reading the Hustler alone and on hearing gun shots he runs back to the truck to get his gun, his trousers are unbuckled and keep on falling. He gets into the truck, grabs the guns without buckling his trousers, gets out and starts running to fire at Melquiades, but now his trousers are buckled and don't fall down.

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Quotes

Melquiades Estrada: 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.

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Crazy Credits

The title of the film and the various title cards are in both English and Spanish.

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Connections

References The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

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Soundtracks

Before The Next Teardrop Falls
(1967)
Written by Ben Peters and Vivian Keith
Performed by Freddy Fender
© Shelby Singleton Music, Inc.
(P) 1974 Geffen Records
Courtesy of Universal Music Special Projects

User Reviews

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.