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Submitted by cinemascope on Fri, 2006-03-31 09:47. :: Contemporary
Movie title:
Three Burials
Starring:
Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, Jaunary Jones, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Dwight Yoakam
Directed by:
Tommy Lee Jones
Written by:
Guillermo Arriaga
Genre:
Western/Drama
Year:
2006
Country:
USA
Language:
English/Spanish
Runtime:
121 minutes
Imdb:
Rating:
Synopsis
On the Texan side of the US/Mexican border, ranch-hand Pete Perkins befriends illegal immigrant Melquiades Estrada. When Estrada is killed in mysterious circumstances, Pete vows to find his killer, and to keep a promise he made to his friend: to return his body to his home across the border.
On the Texan side of the US/Mexican border, ranch-hand Pete Perkins befriends illegal immigrant Melquiades Estrada. When Estrada is killed in mysterious circumstances, Pete vows to find his killer, and to keep a promise he made to his friend: to return his body to his home across the border.
Review
Lee Jones’s directorial debut, scripted by Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros, 21 Grams) follows the broken up narrative pattern of Arriaga’s earlier scripts, while dealing with a theme and locale close to Jones’ heart: the parallel yet hugely different lives of the inhabitants of the Tex-Mex border country. An impressive performance from Barry Pepper as the brutal and racist border guard Mike is accompanied by a strong turn from newcomer January Jones as his downtrodden wife, while the other Jones – Tommy Lee – turns in his usual rugged and world-weary turn as Pete, who may be the moral heart of the movie, but undergoes a twisting journey to reach his salvation. Slow-paced at times, and punctuated with black humour reminiscent of Weekend at Bernies (no bad thing), Three Burials can at times flag, and in the final scenes, lacks the emotional gut-punch that you wait for throughout.
Lee Jones’s directorial debut, scripted by Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros, 21 Grams) follows the broken up narrative pattern of Arriaga’s earlier scripts, while dealing with a theme and locale close to Jones’ heart: the parallel yet hugely different lives of the inhabitants of the Tex-Mex border country. An impressive performance from Barry Pepper as the brutal and racist border guard Mike is accompanied by a strong turn from newcomer January Jones as his downtrodden wife, while the other Jones – Tommy Lee – turns in his usual rugged and world-weary turn as Pete, who may be the moral heart of the movie, but undergoes a twisting journey to reach his salvation. Slow-paced at times, and punctuated with black humour reminiscent of Weekend at Bernies (no bad thing), Three Burials can at times flag, and in the final scenes, lacks the emotional gut-punch that you wait for throughout.
