I cant believe I havent seen this movie before - absolutely fantastic!!! This might be one of the greatest postmodern political films ever made. Its about the accidental murder of Melquiades (Mel-key-aid-us) Estrada, a Vaquero, or cowboy. It is told in flashbacks. Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) is a Texas rancher, struggling to run his ranch. Estrada rides up on horseback, an absolutely beautiful horse, and asks if he can have some water. Pete asks him where he is from, why he is here. Estrada waits, answers, he is from Mexico, he is looking for work. What kind of work Pete asks him. I am a cowboy, he answers, a Vaquero. Pete smiles. He recognizes something about Estrada - something traditional, proud - cowboy values. they become friends and Estrada tells Pete about his hometown in Mexico, where the air is fresh, the water clean, he shows Pete a picture of his wife and children. Pete asks how long it has been since Estrada has seen them : five years he replies. Pete almost cries. Estrada asks Pete to "take me home" if anything happens to him. So when Estrada is killed, Pete digs him up, kidnaps a border patrol agent named Mike Norton who shot Estrada (Barry Pepper, the sniper from Saving Private Ryan) and they ride to Mexico. I wont spoil the ending. It is an incredible movie. There is one scene in a diner with Rachel the waitress whore and Lou Ann (Mike Norton's wife), and the diner interior is so sterile, so plain, so empty, and the song in the background is an old Roger Miller song, "You cant roller skate in a buffalo herd..." a song that is meaningless, and you get the feeling the director wanted: these people are empty, their lives have no meaning. Watch for appearances from Levon Helm (drummer from The Band)who plays an old, blind cowboy, and the Sheriff who has erectile dysfunction played by singer Dwight Yoakam. It is a movie about paradise lost, how our world is crazy, and how one man retains his sense of loyalty, friendship and Justice. A must see rental!
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