As in Faulkner's book "As I Lay Dying" a dead body is transported over difficult terrain. There the comparison stops, for there is no revenge in Faulkner's book. There's plenty of it in Tommie Lee Jones movie, "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada." Viewers expecting the charm, dry humor and stoic philosophy that have become trademarks of Jones' performances will be disappointed.
The desolate beauty of the Rio Grande borderland shown by Jones' camera serves as an echo of the bravery once necessary for survival in that country, and of the quiet joyousness which lifted grim survival to a higher level. Not content to imply, however, Jones shows us(in brutal detail) the population's lack of humanity, and only that. His movie becomes a political polemic instead of a work of art.
A glimmer of humanity is provided by Canadian Barry Pepper ("Enemy of the State," "Saving Private Ryan," "*61," "The Snow Walker"). By his unsettling performance he again shows what can happen to an all-American when he loses his sense of humor. Otherwise, the characters seem to cardboard cutouts ....... or beautifully painted corpses.
Although raised in rough Southwestern terrain, Jones attended a private prep school and then Yale University. He never returned to the sagebrush except in the movies. Now, from his lofty position high atop Mount Ivy League Jones looks down on the little people of the borderland, and doesn't like what he sees. Faulkner showed us seriously flawed Southern hillbillies in "As I Lay Dying" but it was clear that he loved them. Showing love: As a director, Jones ain't up to the job.
The desolate beauty of the Rio Grande borderland shown by Jones' camera serves as an echo of the bravery once necessary for survival in that country, and of the quiet joyousness which lifted grim survival to a higher level. Not content to imply, however, Jones shows us(in brutal detail) the population's lack of humanity, and only that. His movie becomes a political polemic instead of a work of art.
A glimmer of humanity is provided by Canadian Barry Pepper ("Enemy of the State," "Saving Private Ryan," "*61," "The Snow Walker"). By his unsettling performance he again shows what can happen to an all-American when he loses his sense of humor. Otherwise, the characters seem to cardboard cutouts ....... or beautifully painted corpses.
Although raised in rough Southwestern terrain, Jones attended a private prep school and then Yale University. He never returned to the sagebrush except in the movies. Now, from his lofty position high atop Mount Ivy League Jones looks down on the little people of the borderland, and doesn't like what he sees. Faulkner showed us seriously flawed Southern hillbillies in "As I Lay Dying" but it was clear that he loved them. Showing love: As a director, Jones ain't up to the job.