The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

8.5/10. Saw this yesterday evening at the Rex in Fribourg.

Several critics have compared Three Burials to the work of Sam Peckinpah ("Peckinpah lives!" proclaims Rolling Stone). Yet while the movie perhaps nods once or twice at Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, it's most recognizable as the work of its talented screenwriter, Guillermo Arriaga, who also wrote Amores Perros and 21 Grams. That is, it's yet another dark and violent, yet vaguely uplifting, story about death and redemption.

Tommy Lee Jones previously directed a movie for TV, but this is his debut feature, and it's a strong one. Of course, it undoubtedly helped that it was photographed by Chris Menges, a gifted cinematographer who has also directed a few movies himself.

At Cannes, Jones received the Best Actor award for his performance as Pete Perkins, a mysterious, perhaps insane man who is driven to extreme acts by the death of his friend. But it's Barry Pepper as border patrolman Mike Norton who is the standout. There's not one thing to like about Norton (his own wife calls him "irredeemable") but Pepper makes him an engaging and even sympathetic character.