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My review of the film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Version 0.1
Copyright (C) 2008 by Zachary T Smith
All rights reserved.

Acting: ***
Plot: *
Story: **
Dialog: *
Direction: **

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a revenge fantasy in which a US Border Patrol agent is repeatedly tortured. It is a film that tries to be awful. I will explain.

If you've ever taken a screenwriting course, you know there are several things you should not do in a film script. For instance:

  • Don't present implausible, unbelievable situations and events just because you want them to occur in real life.
  • Don't create characters who are one-dimensional or like "cardboard".
  • Don't create complex characters and then fail to explain their complexity and instead have other characters remark "He's crazy".
  • Don't show us scenes or events that are uninteresting just because you couldn't think of something better to show.
  • Don't present any one group as all good or all bad.
  • If two conflicting characters are together and nothing serious is keeping them from talking, let them talk.
  • If people have a deep, compelling friendship, show it with action, not chit-chat.
Unfortunately, the Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada violates all of these rules. Its script is appalling. It's truly badly written. You have to pity the actors. This is a "walk out of the theater" movie, as bad as Alexander.

The only type of person, in my estimation, who would like this film is someone who either possesses this particular revenge fantasy, or who believes all the untruths that form the basis for such a fantasy. But even then, it's still a lame film.

I'd predict that this pretty much marks the death of Tommy Lee Jones' career, but who knows, maybe Hollywood will exhume him to play another cardboard "crazy" character.

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