every time. As you can tell by now, this film is not about "excitement". (Even the moments of Peckinpah's signature balletic, slow-motion gunplay have a tired, disillusioned feel to them - as if he was starting to realize that behind his fascination with the peculiar authority of violent death was just the meaningless mess of a bleeding body sprawled on the dirt.) It will not make you feel good. What it *will* do is challenge you to meditate on some of the most despairing aspects of the human condition. Types like Michael "The Toupeed Sissy" Medved - who put the film on his 50 All-Time Worst list - are obviously not up for that challenge. But those who are will find the consolations of Art - such as they are - as their reward.