MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

serafinogm I enjoyed this film so much I purchased it and have lent my copy to others so they could enjoy it as well (but it doesn't appear they have). I think this is the best thing I've seen Tommy Lee in but the intense Pepper (perfect for a Border Patrol Agent), the smoldering Leo (spot on for her rather small town street wise role), the folksy Yoakam (couldn't have found anyone better to play Sheriff), and the hapless Cedillo (sweet man just trying to get by, irrespective of borders), and finally the lovely January Jones (what an incredible beauty) they all held up their end as well. A terrific story of friendship and loyalty, loyalty that could have ended very badly and from which there was no turning back! Tommy Lee plays a no nonsense very decent man capable of doing violence for the sake of friendship and to honor an offhand promise but just as important ensuring some degree of justice is served. Great film that I will always think of fondly and that I revisit from time to time and each and every time it has the same emotional impact! By the way Tommy your directorial debut was as good as it can get, I detected nothing I could complain about! Damn film brought tears to my eyes!

svikasha Texas is a beautiful country with a stunning, flat landscape, characteristic people, and, unfortunately, pervasive racism. Although Texas was once a part of Mexico, the political climate of immigration has brought out an ugly side of Texas that lies in stark contrast to the beauty of the state itself. Mexicans are not welcome in Texas. It is with this premise that the "Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" begins. In the beginning of the film, an undocumented Mexican ranch worker named Melquiades Estrada from the town of Jiménez is unjustly murdered by a trigger-happy border agent in the dry heat of Texas. The scene is particularly haunting since the movie was inspired by the real-life killing in Texas of Esequiel Hernandez Jr. by a United States Marine. The man who kills Estrada is a border agent named Mike Norton who has a penchant for racism and a bad habit of casually raping his wife and brutalizing women. The lines between good and evil are clearly drawn at the beginning of the film. Unfortunately, the law doesn't always recognize this line. As a border agent with a recognized right to carry a firearm and be in the country, Estrada gets murdered and the Norton gets away. Well, almost, anyways. Pete Perkins ensures otherwise. The tough cowboy, who is played by Tommy Lee Jones, learns of Estrada's murder and the following cover up by law enforcement. Not content to let such an injustice go unanswered, in classic western style, Perkins drags Michael Norton and Estrada's corpse all the way from Texas to Jiménez in Mexico while being relentlessly pursued by border agents. On the journey, Perkins forces Norton to come to terms with his racism, his lack of empathy, and the raw injustice of his actions towards Estrada. The two end up developing a strange bond that elevate's Norton's character. Although the film contains stunning visual scenes of both rural Texas and rural Mexico, the real beauty of the film comes out in the ending. Although the "Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" has all the ingredients to be a classic tale of revenge in the form of a modern western, instead it takes the more difficult route of telling a tale of redemption. Norton, after being shown the error of his ways by Perkins, eventually comes around and is given a second chance. Nobody is too far gone for redemption. That is why the film has the potential to become an instant classic. It is a fitting legacy for the directorial debut of veteran actor Tommy Lee Jones.

James Lewis (jklewis54) The directorial debut of Tommy Lee Jones may likely provide deep insight into Jones' own faith and the influence of author Flannery O'Connor. "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" provides a vista of the bleakness of man's sinfulness, and his need for grace and redemption. An easier to pronounce and less enigmatic title could have been "The Redemption of Mike Norton", but that would have been too revealing.The film, like the southern border wilderness where it is set, exposes the true nature of man – a dichotomy of the spiritual and mundane. As in our American judicial system it endorses vengeance as well as provides opportunity for forgiveness and rehabilitation. A powerful modern-day Western, "Three Burials" is written by Guillermo Arriaga, an award-winning Mexican screenwriter acclaimed for "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams." This screenplay does justice to Jones' focus in the film on death and redemption as most of Arriaga's stories have death as a central theme, likely a factor of his being raised in one of Mexico City's more violent barrios. It is evident these men have collaborated on a film that embodies laconic pace and visceral images in a western context; both can be viewed as an extension of Jones' Harvard thesis on author Flannery O'Connor:The film's O'Connor connection is not haphazard, with Mr. Jones identifying her, and the book of Ecclesiastes, as primary influences on the story. "You look for the allegorical intentions of what we're taught in the Bible, and then find some way to have it revealed or expressed by common experience. You'll find this happening over and over again in O'Connor, who was a rather classical Catholic thinker who wrote about nothing but backwoods north Georgia rednecks." In that same interview, Mr. Jones continues: "Ecclesiastes is essential to the movie as well. . . . It has to do with the passage of time. You want to start thinking as an actor that the past, the present, and the future are occurring simultaneously, and God requires an accounting of all three." There is ample evidence of a powerful link of this film to the book of Ecclesiastes and the stories of Flannery O'Connor; both of their themes are integral to this film: "Barry Pepper talked about the influence of the Bible and the works of Flannery O'Connor on The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, written and directed by Tommy Lee Jones. O'Connor is important to the way this movie is constructed," he continues. ''What you do is you consider some so-called religious thinking without the didacticism of the classical approach. You look for the allegorical intentions of what we're taught in the Bible, and then find some way to have it revealed or expressed by common experience." Jones adds: Also, family members of the film's co-producer, Michael Fitzgerald, are executors of O'Connor's literary estate. ''So we both knew our O'Connor rather well, and it was just a natural approach for me." The viewer is treated to a colorful and varied screen; from the opening pastel credits, wide rambling hills, mountains, and desert, to the stark filtered colors of the café and morgue. Jones accomplishes a remarkable task in directing, as well as doing some of his own camera work, and as lead actor. In front of the camera Jones heads the cast as Pete Perkins, a ranch foreman, who takes on a Mexican drifter, Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo) who is obviously in the U.S. illegally. Pete seems taken with the man, who answers the question of what he does as: "I'm just a cowboy."For my full review (contains spoilers) with a view of Ecclesiastes: http://alturl.com/ghjbb

Anssi Vartiainen On the technical side of things this is an excellent film. I can find almost no flaws in its execution. The directing works, the scenes flow very well from one to another (though I don't really care for the flash-forwards, but that's a personal bias) and the acting is top-notch. Add in some gorgeous scenery, nice cinematography and a decent score and there's really nothing much to complain about.So that leaves us with the story, the style and the characters. I don't mind the story. It's actually a rather good tale about a sour man that doesn't really care about much anything, but has grown attached to his protégé and wants to do something decent for a while, even if that something is just giving the young man a proper burial place. I'll buy it and I was actually somewhat interested in the premise. Unfortunately the style and the characters are all very unpleasant to witness. This is a depressing movie. That's not exactly a flaw, as it is a conscious choice made by the makers of this movie, but it didn't improve the viewing experience for me. And the movie actually gets a lot better when we get out of that little American border town where everyone is ugly, sinful and has given up all hope. Sure people are ugly and sinful on the other side of the border as well, but at least they have an explanation for their misery. In that American town there's just this feeling of clinical masochism. Like they're miserable by choice. And perhaps that's the statement that the film makers wanted to convey. If so, they certainly succeeded.And, to the film's credit, there are some good characters as well. Tom Lee Jones' Pete Perkins has given up hope like so many others in this film, but there's still that small sliver of principle in him, shining through the cracks. Likewise with the titular character Melquiades Estrada, the only character that feels alive in this film, even though it is about his burial. Wrap your head around that fact.All in all I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to anyone. It's a well-made movie about hopelessness, frustration and meaningless good deeds, but it's also so very ugly that I kind of wish I hadn't seen it. On the other hand I recognize that my personal taste in movies is the only thing that's preventing me from singing its praises. So if gritty realism is your thing, this movie could be for you.