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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)

R  |   |  Adventure, Crime, Drama  |  24 February 2006 (USA)
7.5
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Ratings: 7.5/10 from 32,914 users   Metascore: 77/100
Reviews: 198 user | 172 critic | 35 from Metacritic.com

Ranch hand Pete Perkins looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico.

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Western

A rancher trains a group of boys to herd his cattle. A remake of the 1972 film, 'The Cowboys'.

Director: Tommy Lee Jones
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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...
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Melquiades Estrada (as Julio César Cedillo)
...
...
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Rachel
...
...
...
Rosa
Ignacio Guadalupe ...
Lucio
...
Mariana
Irineo Alvarez ...
Manuel (as Irineo Álvarez)
...
Juan
...
Border Patrolman
...
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Storyline

A man is shot and quickly buried in the high desert of west Texas. The body is found and reburied in Van Horn's town cemetery. Pete Perkins, a local ranch foreman, kidnaps a Border Patrolman and forces him to disinter the body. With his captive in tow and the body tied to a mule, Pete undertakes a dangerous and quixotic journey into Mexico. Written by Anonymous

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Nobody is beyond redemption. See more »


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, violence and sexuality | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

|

Language:

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Release Date:

24 February 2006 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

The 3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada  »

Filming Locations:

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Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$759,792 (France) (2 December 2005)

Gross:

$5,023,275 (USA) (2 June 2006)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| | (TV)

Sound Mix:

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Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Tommy Lee Jones's theatrical directing debut. His only other directing credit was the TV movie The Good Old Boys (1995). See more »

Goofs

The alcohol given to Mike Norton by the Mexican bear hunters is caramel colored. Later, after the third burial, the alcohol is now dark brown. See more »

Quotes

Belmont: There's a thousand ways he can go to Mexico, and that sonofabitch is so fuckin' nuts he might be headin' north to Canada.
See more »

Crazy Credits

The title of the film and the various title cards are in both English and Spanish. See more »

Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 21 January 2006 (2006) See more »

Soundtracks

Before The Next Teardrop Falls
(1967)
Written by Ben Peters and Vivian Keith
Performed by Freddy Fender
© Shelby Singleton Music, Inc.
(P) 1974 Geffen Records
Courtesy of Universal Music Special Projects
See more »

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User Reviews

 
Nobody is beyond redemption...
2 December 2005 | by (Lomé) – See all my reviews

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is for me the film that saved 2005. Written by Guillermo Arriaga, also writer of "Amores Perros" and "21 grams" and the first movie of Tommy Lee Jones as a director (but also lead actor), "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" tells the story of Ranch hand Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) who wants to fulfill the promise he made to his recently deceased Mexican friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico. The power of this modern western and initiatic journey resides in the complexity of the characters, their depth and their controversial behavior. None of the protagonists are one dimensional; none of them are right or wrong but all of them do right and wrong things. They are not always rational, and most of the time they feel lost. In one word they all appear profoundly human. Build over a chase dynamic fueled with contrasts and paradoxes, the film opposes Wild West landscape and Modern carton built houses, 4WD tracking hunt and horse back journey, fake TV soaps and true friendship but maybe most of all Freedom and Prison. Indeed most if not all characters are trapped in their apathetic lives from which they can't or don't want to escape forcing us to ask ourselves how close is our lives to the spectacle projected in front of our eyes. Melquiades Estrada embodies this possibility of Escape and now that he has been buried 3 times he transcends this Freedom making redemption possible not only through death but also through rebirth, suggesting that nobody is beyond it.


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Why was there no Jimenez and why the fake family picture? decflatte
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