The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)

Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) goes to great lengths to fulfil a promise he made to his closest friend, the titular Melquiades Estrada.
The first hour felt like ten hours. It was a real struggle to maintain interest, but over time, once I realised that the tedium and emptiness of the characters’ lives was structured to set up a contrast for what comes in the second half, it became easier to bear. Eventually the strands of the story began to weave and it delivered something less distant and subtly beautiful. I’ll never sit through it again but I’ll remember the feelings it stirred, which for the viewer is an important aspect of any film.

3 new perspectives out of 5