THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE     (dir. Same Peckinpah)   Peckinpah took a slight detour from his typical modus operandi when he approached his follow up to  The Wild Bunch . Instead of attempting to top the violence he photographed in  The Wild Bunch , he opted for a more characterized film that ignores a lot of the conventions associated with Westerns. The result was  The Ballad of Cable Hogue !  Jason Robards stars as the titular character. Cable Hogue is alone in the desert after his two partners venture off to find water. When they come back empty handed, they rob Cable of the last bit of his water and leave him to the desert where he'll meet his almost certain death. After five days of prayer and wandering, Cable stumbles upon a little bit of water that saves his life. He then goes on to buy the land the water was on and he creates a water station for any travelers passing through.  Like I said,  Cable Hogue  ignores a lot of the Western conventions like violence and gunplay, and instead, Peckinpah creates a more comedically driven film that doesn't involve much violence at all.  Cable Hogue  plays out like a symbolic tale of the immigrant's American dream. Hogue's inability to read as well as his lack of funds place him at the bottom of the food chain without many options. However, with his intense passion and drive to make a better life for himself, he's able to beat the odds.    4.5/5     WATCH: Putlocker (FREE)
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