The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada [Blu-ray]

Director: Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones

Overview

Veteran screen star Tommy Lee Jones makes his directorial debut with the fractured tale of murder and injustice on the U.S.-Mexico border scripted by Amores Perros and 21 Grams screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. Mike Norton (Barry Pepper) is a fresh-faced Border Patrol officer in Cibolo County, TX, whose dedication to his new job leaves his lonely wife, Lou Ann (January Jones), with little to do but spend her days at the local diner, where she strikes up a friendship with waitress Rachel (Melissa Leo). Despite her own status as a married woman, Rachel is unfulfilled in her marriage and is intimately involved with both rugged rancher Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) and local sheriff Belmont (Dwight Yoakam). Soon after Pete hires Mexican illegal Melquiades Estrada (Julio C?sar Cedillo) as a ranch hand, the growing bond between the pair is suddenly shattered when, in a moment of panic on a routine patrol, Mike hastily guns down the innocent Melquaides. When an enraged Pete learns that Mike has unceremoniously buried the illegal immigrant in an unmarked desert grave and local authorities opt to overlook the case, he kidnaps the crooked lawman and sets out to ensure that justice is served with or without the involvement of the local police force.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/28/2019
UPC:	0043396557604
Original Release:	2005
Rating:	R
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Region Code:	A
Language:	English
Time:	2:01:00
Sales rank:	24,128

Special Features

Commentary with Tommy Lee Jones, Dwight Yoakam and January Jones; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tommy Lee Jones	Pete Perkins,Lou Ann Norton,Dog Lady,Immigrant Girl
Barry Pepper	Mike Norton
Julio Cesar Cedillo	Melquiades Estrada,Melquiades Estrada
Dwight Yoakam	Sheriff Belmont
Melissa Leo	Rachel
Vanessa Bauche	Mariana
Ignacio Guadalupe	Lucio
Mel Rodriguez	le capitaine Gomez
Cecilia Suárez	Rosa
Irineo Álvarez	Manuel
Levon Helm	le vieil aveugle
Josh Berry	le patrouilleur des frontières
René Campero	Don Casimiro
Edwin Broussard	Bubba
Sonny Carl Davis	Kruger
Jesse De Luna	Miller
Ariel Castro	Jorge
Richard Dillard	Jim
Sean Hennigan	Chuck
Richard Andrew Jones	Bob
Julio César Cedilllo	Actor
Melvin Rodriguez	Captain Gomez
Guillermo Arriaga	Juan
Rodger Boyce	Salesman
Edwin 'Bubba' Broussard	Bubba
Lupe Campos	Sands Guy 2
Uriel Chavez	Cowboy 2
Montserrat de León	El Toston Woman 2
Jorge Ádrian Espíndola	Cowboy 1
Jordan Henderson	Mary, Soap Opera Girl
Richard Jones	Bob
Raul Molinar	Radio Announcer 1
Adrian Navarette	Agustin
Lonnie Nelson	Gravedigger
Juan Pareja	Sands Guy 1
Terry Parks	Neil
Gustavo Sánchez Parra	Tomas
Hugo Pérez	Man
Paulina Reyes	Piano Player
Sergio Rodriguez	Radio Announcer 2
Charles Sanders	Doctor
Brent Smiga	Deputy Antonio
Spike Spencer	John, Soap Opera
Angelina Torres	Adriana
Barry Tubb	A.L.
Guillermo Von Son	Chino
Maya Zapata	El Toston Woman 1
Pete Anthony	Conductor
Marco Beltrami	Composer

Technical Credits

Guillermo Arriaga

Guillermo Arriaga Jordan

Guillermo Arriaga	Screenwriter
Luc Besson	Producer
Tommy Lee Jones	Producer,Director
Pierre-Ange Le Pogam	Producer
Michael Fitzgerald	Producer
Eric A. Williams	Producer
Clay Boss	Stunts
Gregory Kilmer	Special Effects
José Manuel Aguilar	Sound Effects
Jeanne McCarthy	Casting
Manuel Teil	Casting
Jo Boldin	Casting
Al Laverde	Key Grip
Mark Weingarten	Sound Mixer
Chris Menges	Producer
Guillermo Arriaga Jordan	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

For his debut feature, Tommy Lee Jones follows in the footsteps of other fine actors who paid attention when they were directed -- Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, and Robert Duvall spring to mind. That is to say, he comes on the scene a confident, honed storyteller. This -- with the assistance of scripter Guillermo Arriaga -- enables a film like The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. In what could be the same border town John Sayles presents in Lone Star, Jones mines a subject that's both timely to the nation, and timeless to Texans: the unexpected byproducts of illegal immigration. But the director steers clear of a heavy-handed message movie, fixating on a single Mexican, a ranch hand named Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo), who is accidentally shot by an overzealous border patrol agent (Barry Pepper). As Pete Perkins, Jones the performer is no human-rights crusader; he just cares about this particular man. In keeping a promise to his compadre -- even when it involves carrying his decaying corpse across the desert on horseback -- Jones radiates an unyielding determination, kidnapping Pepper's Mike Norton and teaching him a lesson with an almost disembodied sense of calm. But the film leaves all interpretation of the characters' growth and change up to the audience, never cheating them through a big speech or a moment of dramatic clarity. Every detail feels real, and the cinematography (by veteran Chris Menges and neophyte Hector Ortega) makes the barren Mexican countryside as formidable as any wilderness on film -- a dying frontier for men of justice. Arriaga's script also effectively carries out the parallel subplot of several stolid women resigned to disappointment back in town. While its deliberate pace may not move fast enough for some viewers, those who fall in stride with Estrada will find plenty of buried treasures.