Three Burials - Die drei Begräbnisse des Melquiades Estrada

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Directed by Tommy Lee Jones (2005)

I have always liked Tommy Lee Jones as an actor. He has made some really great performances in the movies JFK, Heaven & Earth, and The Fugitive. And otherwise he has always been good, although he got some typecast in some stereotype roles. In 1995 he debuted as a director on TV, with the movie The Good Old Boys, which I sadly haven't seen. Now, he has joined some of his famous and acknowledged colleges like Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Denzel Washington, and made the step from actor, to actor & director in his own very first motion picture - The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

In this movie, Tommy plays the lead as Pete Perkins, who under some mysterious circumstances, finds out that his best friend has got killed. As a consequence of this, he reacts strong and dramatically, wanting to fulfil his old promise to his, now gone, friend.

The script is written by Guillermo Arriaga, and he mixes the characters and the beautiful landscape into an original story, dealing with many subjects. As said before, the movie is beautifully filmed and good edited. Aside from the director, the shooting star – Barry Pepper – delivers another very good and solid performance! He is a very good actor, which I hope to see a lot from in the future…

All in all a solid, and good piece of movie craft from Tommy Lee Jones, which I know respect more than ever!

8/10