[psycho d]

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005). The opening credits/scene pretty much guarantee that this is going to be a great movie, which is lucky because things get confusing rather quickly. This film feels real because its characters are so perfectly imperfect. It also makes a strong statement about humanity without ever feeling preachy. It instead lets the audience come to its own conclusion.

The story is complex without being unrealistic. Though it does become ostensibly discombobulated, patience will serve its audience well and all questions and confusions are answered with aplomb. This is a story about the boredom that is bred in a boring town and the complexities that develop by its bored citizens. Of course it is one of these bored characters that instigates the drama to follow, but all of our various players contribute in their own unique and problematic ways. This is definitely a character driven drama, but these characters, whether vain shallow or complex, are all developed with their depth of character in mind whilst amazingly coming off as being as real as can be. We deplore their shenanigans but concurrently understand their plight. It is also a story whose denouement seems easily guessed but becomes perfectly bent just when we think we've got it all figured out. And lastly, as the story unfolds, we are privy to the personal revelations that our characters must undertake, but how these revelations play out is subtle, and therefore marvelous, in application.

The acting was incredible. With multiple characters with their own demons to convey, they all accomplish their roles with aplomb. Tommy Lee Jones was absolutely amazing in his role of a man on the edge of insanity, and we can almost feel his arms swinging wildly as he tries to keep from falling off. Barry Pepper is just as solid in a role that brings unimaginable depth to what seems a shallow man. Dwight Yoakam is delightful as the cop we want to hate but whose comedic shortcomings only serve to draw us in.

With Tommy Lee also behind the camera in his cinematic debut, and with such a complex story, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada seems an overambitious project that will prove rife with problems. But Tommy rises to the challenge and has created a movie worthy of the term movie magic. The photography wisely took full advantage of its environs in such a way that these people's stupid mistakes seem all the more believable in such a barren land. The score was just right, always there in full support of the scene. The editing was complex but ultimately sublime.

At this wonderful modern western's conclusion, even when are fully satisfied with our 121 minute investment, that last bit of dialog fully revels in the moment of personal revelation that this character has undertaken.
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