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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- Best known for roles in "The Fugitive" and "Men in Black," Tommy Lee Jones makes an impressive and confident directorial debut with "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" (Sony Classics). Despite a tongue-twister title and a rhythm so leisurely it occasionally slows to a visual drawl, the ruminative Western set amid the rugged mesas of Texas unfolds in a measured, but sure-handed, manner, paying dividends in honest emotion. Jones is Pete Perkins, a grizzled ranch foreman, who hires -- and subsequently forms a deep friendship with -- an undocumented Mexican cowboy, Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo). Melquiades makes the solitary Pete promise, should he die stateside, to bring his body back to Mexico and bury him in his hometown. A credible Barry Pepper plays Mike Norton, a green Border Patrol guard who, when not roughing up Mexican illegals or engaging in mechanical sex with his bored young wife (January Jones), passes his shift in solitary sexual gratification. During one of these on-duty interludes, a gunshot prompts him to return hasty fire, resulting in Melquiades' accidental death. A sham investigation by the local sheriff, Belmont (Dwight Yoakam), follows. With no hope of justice, a grieving Pete abducts Mike at gunpoint, having learned of his guilt from a married local waitress, Rachel (Melissa Leo), who is involved in extramarital affairs with both Pete and Belmont. Determined to make good on his vow, Pete forces Mike to dig up Melquiades' body and the two head south, across treacherous badlands, corpse in tow. Written by Guillermo Arriaga after a similar real-life shooting, this film, as with Arriaga's previous screenplay for "21 Grams," tells multiple nonlinear stories -- confusingly at the outset -- before settling into a more conventional journey narrative. The harshly beautiful Tex-Mex vistas are stunning, imbuing the modest tale with an outsized mythic grandeur. Delivering what is perhaps his most textured performance in years, Jones, with his craggy face, seems the reason close-ups were invented. Though some may be put off by some of the sexual situations, Jones never condones or wallows in the characters' sins but uses them as windows to their interior emptiness, reflected in Pete's vacant eyes and the barren terrain. For the most part, Jones displays relative restraint in handling their indiscretions, as in one post-coital exchange where Benton and Rachel are photographed artfully to partially camouflage their full nudity. Many may find Pete's macabre attachment to Melquiades' decaying body creepy to say the least. (In various scenes, he fills it with antifreeze, lovingly combs its hair, and sets its face on fire to ward off opportunistic ants.) Though Pete walks a fine line between dutiful and deranged, his actions suggest less mental unhinging than an inconsolable sense of loss and hunger for companionship. Without being pedantic or overly sentimental, "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" is an affecting study of loneliness and the human need for connection that ends on a quietly moral -- even redemptive -- note, as death ultimately serves to illuminate life. The film contains some violence, including a pistol-whipping and gunshot gore, the surgical lancing of a venom-swollen foot, a crass but fully clothed sexual encounter between husband and wife, adultery, brief pornographic images, suggested masturbation, images of a corpse in various stages of decay, pervasive rough and crude language, and profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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