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'The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada' digs beneath the surface

Tommy Lee Jones' big-screen directorial debut might not be the easiest film to watch, but its payoff makes it one of the better trips to the movies of the past year.

As well, some filmgoers might find "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" a challenging title to say (the character's first name is pronounced Mel-key-a-dez). The movie is partially in Spanish, and the story jumps with frequent flashbacks. Plus, at times Jones' character hauls out the corpse of his dead friend, tending to it with great, if bizarre, care.

Sony Pictures Classics 'The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada' A- The verdict: A thoughtful, smart, challenging and moving art film set in the rugged Southwest. Director: Tommy Lee Jones Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Julio Cedillo, Vanessa Bauche, Dwight Yoakam, Barry Tubb Run time: 121 minutes Release date: Dec. 14, 2005 Rating: R for language, violence and sexuality. See showtimes A man of few words Actor/director Tommy Lee Jones gives uncharacteristic interviews with: • The Palm Beach Post • The Atlanta Journal-Constitution On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

But with strong performances, "Three Burials" explores in intimate detail the cultural and social connections between the ruggedly picturesque border areas of southwest Texas and northern Mexico.

It's a film of redemption, of alienation among the inhabitants of the dusty, rattler-infested West and, on its surface, of one man demanding a kind of moral restitution for the slaying of his friend in a place where little justice exists.

Jones, who won last year's best actor award at Cannes for "Three Burials," plays Pete Perkins, a modern-day cowboy who befriends Estrada (Julio Cedillo), a Mexican working as a ranch hand in Texas and tending goats in the Rio Grande Valley.

Barry Pepper (the sharpshooter in "Saving Private Ryan") co-stars as Mike Norton, a freshly arrived border patrol guard who shoots Estrada in a weird, nearly comic and horrendously tragic accident.

When local law enforcement fails to properly investigate Estrada's death, Perkins kidnaps Norton, and forces him to dig up his friend's body and accompany him on horseback to Estrada's original home in Mexico for proper burial.

It's a simple, straightforward story, written by Guillermo Arriaga ("Amores Perros," "21 Grams"), but one rife with spiritual connections and centered on an almost biblical trek into the Southwest wilderness.

In a way, Jones is playing the opposite of his Oscar-winning role in "The Fugitive." He's still brash, outspoken and grizzled in "Three Burials," but this time he's the one being pursued by the law.

Pepper also scores well, playing the kind of character with an inner roil ready to boil over. After his kidnapping, the actor fully commits himself to the part, running barefoot through the rocky environs and displaying cuts and scrapes from continuous scenes of escape attempts and harsh treatment.

Together, he and Jones make for an odd onscreen couple. But what they ultimately find might well save their souls.