The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2006)
86%RT Audience Score: 81%
Awards & Nominations: 5 wins & 9 nominations
Tommy Lee Jones’ directorial debut is both a potent western and a powerful morality tale
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is like a cowboy movie, but with more heart and less yeehaw. Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars in this film about a man seeking justice for his friend’s death, and it’s a wild ride. There’s heartbreak, loss, and even some adultery thrown in for good measure. But don’t worry, it’s not all serious – there are some moments that will make you laugh out loud (even if it’s not exactly appropriate). Overall, it’s a soulful and creative take on the Western genre that’s definitely worth a watch.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Marvel Enterprises Marvel Studios,
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Van Horn, Texas, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language, violence and sexuality
Year of Release
2006
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 1m
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Language(s):English, Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 19, 2005 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 6, 2006
Genre(s)
Keyword(s)
starring Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Dwight Yoakam, January Jones, Melissa Leo, directed by Tommy Lee Jones, written by Guillermo Arriaga, adventure, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Nigel Andrews, David Ansen, Nev Pierce, Marjorie Baumgarten, Rick Groen, Roger Moore, Richard Propes, Yasser Medina, Chris McCoy, Nathan Kosub, MPAA rating R, morality tale, western, Mexico, border patrolman, friendship, prejudice, obsession, redemption, morality, comedy, broken narrative, desert, ranch hand, kidnapping, burial, promise, honor, gunshot, flashback, mystery
Worldwide gross: $12,045,362
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $17,762,778
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,755
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,937,053
US/Canada gross: $5,027,684
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $7,414,110
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,697
US/Canada opening weekend: $23,859
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $35,184
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,319
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $15,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $22,119,856
Production budget ranking: 1,319
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $11,911,542
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$16,268,620
ROI to date (est.): -48%
ROI ranking: 1,673
Barry Pepper – Mike Norton
Julio Cedillo – Melquiades Estrada
Dwight Yoakam – Belmont
January Jones – Lou Ann Norton
Melissa Leo – Rachel
Director(s)
Tommy Lee Jones
Writer(s)
Guillermo Arriaga
Producer(s)
Michael Fitzgerald, Luc Besson, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, Tommy Lee Jones
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
5 wins & 9 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (149) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (126) | Rotten (23)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada has the grandeur of a morality drama enriched with the impassioned bewilderment of true tragedy.
October 7, 2018
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
As an actor Tommy Lee Jones rarely makes a false move. A master of understatement, he conveys a sense of enormous power held in check. The same could be said of his first feature as a director, Three Burials.
November 1, 2007
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
This gripping film about real people is well-worth excavating.
March 21, 2006 | Rating: 4/5
Nev Pierce
BBC.com
TOP CRITIC
Don’t let the near-impossible-to-remember title keep you away from this singular and slightly surreal Tommy Lee Jones scorcher.
March 4, 2006 | Rating: 4/5
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
This isn’t a film that demands to be enjoyed in order to be remembered — one way or the other, it will stick with you.
February 24, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
With all due respect to that important, quasi-controversial, most-honored film of last year, this is the best Western of 2005.
February 24, 2006 | Rating: 5/5
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
A contemplation film that begs to be chewed up, spit out, processed, talked about, and felt deeply.
September 26, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
It’s a neo-western so predictable and so flat, that I know almost everything that happens by heart. [Full review in Spanish]
July 25, 2020 | Rating: 5/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
Arriaga’s wry fatalism is strangely satisfying, and his screenplay provides the backbone for great performances by the principal cast.
January 8, 2020
Chris McCoy
Memphis Flyer
Despite the occasional gruesomely gleeful tone of this film, (you may find yourself laughing in inappropriate places) it has an odd dignity, most of which comes from Tommy Lee Jones.
August 24, 2017
Dorothy Woodend
The Tyee (British Columbia)
In The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, there is heartbreak, loss, and adultery, all of it general and all of it far more affecting than any self-righteous ethics or anachronistic western codes.
March 5, 2014
Nathan Kosub
Stop Smiling
An offbeat, tonal take on the Western, Tommy Lee Jones’ The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is best described as soulful and creative, if scattered and overambitious.
June 14, 2010 | Rating: 67/100
Gabe Leibowitz
Film and Felt…
Plot
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.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Tommy Lee Jones not only stars in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, but also makes his directorial debut with this film.
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