When Melquides Estrada (Julio Cellido) takes a pot-shot at a coyote, border patrolman Mike Norton (Pepper) thinks he is shooting at him and returns fire, hitting Estrada in the chest, killing him instantly. Ranchman Pete Perkins (Jones) is incensed that his best friend is dead but when he finds that no charges will be brought against Norton, Pete takes matters into his own hands. Because Estrada asked Pete to take him back to his village of Jimenez in Mexico if he should die in Texas, Pete takes Norton captive and makes him exhume Estrada's body to take it across the border to the village. But finding the village isn't as easy as it sounds and Norton waits for his opportunity to escape.
The Three Burials Of Melquides Estrada is the type of movie Sam Peckinpah favourite Warren Oates would star in if he were still alive; that gritty, low-down Mexican-flavoured western he is famous for. Tommy Lee Jones, in his directorial debut, handles the action like a veteran; the first half of the film has a whiff of 'indie' about it as he jump cuts through the story timeline, but then settles down as the characters embark on a straightforward road movie. Never using flashy shots or cool camera techniques, trusting instead in Guillermo Arriaga's original script, the director is content to let Pepper steal the show. Pepper has come along way since his bible-quoting sniper in Saving Private Ryan and is excellent in his first leading role, as he is dragged from cruelty to nonchalance to guilt and finally redemption. With enough character snippets to generate whole movies (the blind old man who asks calmly for Jones to shoot him; Estrada's hidden back story) there is a lot going on in this little gem.