THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA
Directed by: Tommy Lee Jones.
Produced by: Michael Fitzgerald, Luc Besson & Pierre-Ange le Pogam.
Written by: Guillermo Arriaga.
Director of Photography: Chris Menges.
Edited by: Roberto Silvi.
Music by: Marco Beltrami.
Released by: Sony Pictures Classics.
Language: English & Spanish with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: USA/France. 121 min. Rated: R.
With: Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, Julio César Cedillo, Dwight Yoakam, January Jones, Melissa Leo & Levon Helm.

Although he has directed one made-for-cable film, Tommy Lee Jones makes the year's most assured directorial debut in this fable set in the no man's land of the U.S./Mexican border. Because of character details and humor in the most unlikely moments, Jones enhances this straightforward morality tale of redemption writ large, initially told in a non-linear narrative similar to screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga's 21 Grams.

From the onset, two good old boys make a gruesome discovery: a coyote digging up the first and fresh burial of the title character (Julio César Cedillo), an undocumented ranch hand. It's up to his best friend, Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones), to honor Melquiades' wish to be buried in his Mexican hometown. A friend tips Pete off that the bullets found near the body are of the same caliber used by the border patrol. Pete is further incensed when the sheriff nonchalantly informs him he won't investigate the killing of the "wetback" and that he has already buried Melquiades in a public grave. Not surprisingly, the death is related to the new hothead patrol officer in town, Mike Norton (the excellent Barry Pepper). When first seen on the beat, Mike brutally assaults two fleeing illegal aliens.

Because of the trigger-happy, overreacting robo-cop, this Western is only somewhat political. But most of the characters are written in this iconic manner: the saintly, soft-spoken Melquiades; the waitress floozy with a heart of gold; the strong and silent Pete, who's more at home speaking Spanish than English. However, it's a bit of a stretch when Pete takes the law into his own hands: He holds Mike hostage, forcing him to bury, for the last time, Mel's body - this time south of the border. Jones, cool as always, doesn't quite deliver a believable meltdown. His macabre mission of revenge feels forced, even if the poor, but generous Melquiades did once give him a beautiful horse as a gift.

On their mountainous journey, the men encounter a lonely blind Old Man With the Radio (Levon Helm), open-hearted vaqueros, and a beautiful healer (Amores Perros’ Vanessa Bauche). Many of the set pieces are evenly edited, building to a taut mini-climax: Mike's torturous attempt to flee from Pete and a dangerous climb up a steep incline on horseback, featuring an incredible animal stunt.

Beautifully photographed in the harsh Southwestern sunlight by Chris Menges, the film has a grounding sense of place, whether the setting is the local diner or the high desert. For example, as Peter and Mike exhume Melquiades' rotting corpse during the night, Menges includes a lit stadium game of football (the state religion of Texas) in the background.

One instance of the film’s dry sense of humor is when the emotionally guarded Mike suddenly becomes sentimental and weepy at the sight of his wife's beloved soap opera in the company of other rugged men. It's no wonder that Mike is tightly wound - he clips his toenails almost to the bone. Jones won the best actor award at this year at Cannes, but it's really Pepper's film. Equally understated, he can hold his own opposite Jones, as well as give off fireworks in this emotionally and physically exhausting role.

Although this modern-day Western may not have the moral ambiguity of, say, Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, the ending is not completely cut and dry. Redemption is possible, but tantalizingly the Stockholm syndrome may have more than a small part in any change of Mike's heart. Kent Turner
December 14, 2005