The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

I unfortunately missed this one in the theaters, but luckily netflix came through for me. This movie stars Tommy Lee Jones(Pete), Barry Pepper(Mike), Julio Cedillo(Melquiades), and Dwight Yoakam(Belmont). Tommy Lee Jones also directed this movie. This is his second movie to direct and I think he did a wonderful job. This movie has 'three burials' in its titled because it's about a man that was buried three times. A mexican migrant worker is accidently shot by a border patrol officer and the officer tries to cover it up. The body was later found by the authorities and the victim's best friend, Jones, starts his own investigation. Jones goes on his own personal vendetta to track down the man responsible and make the killer realize exactly just what he has done. I think I was first drawn to this movie by the title. Then I was drawn to it by the setting, actors, and then by the story. This is a great story about having to face the music when we screw up. This is also a movie about intense friendship and loyalty. I'd like to think I would be willing to do the same thing for my friend. After Jones tracks down the man responsible, they go retrieve Melquiades' body and proceed to transport to his hometown in Mexico. It takes them a while to actually find the town and once they do, they immediately go to work. First they repair Estrada's house. They then post a sign so anybody coming by will know what they've found. Lastly, they bury Melquiades Estrada for the third and last time. It's not quite over yet though. Pete now makes Mike beg for forgiveness. At first Mike tries to shirk this one final responsibility given him, but things don't work out the way Mike would like. Even though nothing can be done to bring Melquiades back, and the whole thing was an accident, Mike is still responsible. I really felt like personal redemption was gained by the end for Mike. Some of this can be painful to watch, but I think it needs to be that way. So much of our culture today glorifies death, killing and violence. Many people view hispanic people as just "spics" or "wetbacks" and would probably even voice their opinion in support of Mike's actions. I would like to think that these kinds of people would really feel this way if put into Mike's shoes. I also get the feeling that Pete is like a "ghost of Christmas past". In the same way that Scrooge is made aware of the consequences of his actions, Mike is made aware of the consequences of shooting Melquiades. Mike also repents of his actions and comes out on the other side of his wild adventure a changed man. I'm not sure if this was done on purpose, but I think it could lead to some great discussion. There's definitely some objectionable content in here, but this is a film very much worth watching.