The Locusts (1997)

Clay Hewitt(Vince Vaughn)is a drifter from Missouri stopping in 1960s Kansas in hope to earn some money. He only has seven bucks in his pocket. He meets some locals, including Joel(Daniel Meyer), Earl(Paul Rudd), Patsy(Jessica Capshaw) and Kitty(Ashley Judd). Earl suggests he look for employment at Delilah Ashford Potts'(Kate Capshaw) feed ranch. Delilah's reputation of sleeping with her hired hands is common place. She demeans her son 'Flyboy', who is traumatized from his father's death. Clay finally fits in with the other workers and of course is a sexual target of his boss lady. Before Clay talks Kitty into moving on to California; he discovers two big Potts family secrets. The strong sexuality earns THE LOCUSTS the R rating. I really like the diverse characters. The photography catches the moodiness of the story.

Excellent!This movie was so good. The acting was absolutely amazing! Vince Vaughn is an amazing actor. More roles like this for Vince, no more crap like Wedding Crashers.Wonderfully acted movie..Finally a movie that you have to watch and understand.Where have all the great acting movies gone.. More movies like this. The story was simply told. Vince Vaughn can certainly.I recommend this movie highly.The sound track set the tone for this movie and took you back to a simpler time, with more complex issues.

WARNING: SPOILERSSet in the 1950s, this intense drama is about secrets, lies and misfortune. Personally, I think it is well-done. Clay Hewitt (Vince Vaughn) comes to a small town from St Joe and while on his way hitching to California, where he can get together with his brother who serves in the marine corps. With only seven bucks in his pocket, he has to find work in order to get some money. Immediately he is hired by Mrs Potts (Kate Capshaw) to work at her cattle ranch and lodge and board are provided. He notices that Mrs Potts has a young son, Flyboy (Jeremy Davies) who never speaks to anybody but his beloved bull. Later Clay befriends Flyboy and tries to guide him to the outside world, which he has been excluded from for years due to his stay in a mental hospital. They say he has a shock when his father hangs himself.Meanwhile, local girl Kitty (Ashley Judd) falls in love with Clay. Flyboy starts talking to people and makes steady progress, but at the same time, the whole thing is about to go extremely wrong- Clay's brother has long been killed in a friendly fire and the reason why he's going to California is because, back in Kansas, a sixteen-year-old girl with whom he has had sex accidentally hurts herself and dies, so Clay has to flee from being executed. Eventually, Clay decides to take Flyboy with him, away from the domination of Mrs Potts- Flyboy has been treated as a slave and has been emotionally abused by his promiscuous mother who cuts the balls of his pet bull. But when Mrs Potts has found out Clay's intention, she threatens him that if he took her son with him, she would inform the police as she already has learnt about what has happens in Kansas. It is at this very moment, the dirty secrets of Mrs Potts and her son are revealed. Clay can take his wages and leave on one condition- he has to do what Mrs Potts asks him to. When Flyboy finds the two of them in Mrs Potts' bedroom, following his father's (not even his birth father) footsteps, he hangs himself. Soon afterwards, Mrs Potts takes her own life as well. Despite such catastrophes, Clay and Kitty manage to escape.In my opinion, this is a very fascinating, twisting story. The whole cast is good, especially Vince Vaughn and Jeremy Davies. In 'The Locust', every main character is a victim, except perhaps Kitty (Ashley Judd), who actually has strength to give Clay a helping hand. Clay is a victim of his mishap, Flyboy is a victim of his mental trauma due to his father's death, his mother's behaviour and the unintentional betrayal by Clay, Mrs Potts is a victim of her incestuous father and Mr Potts is a victim of his wife's infidelity. This film is about deaths- there are five of them, three of them are suicides.P.S. Clay seems to have endless cigarettes to smoke. Where does he get the money for them?

This came on at 4:40 AM this morning, and I was tired, but tried to catch it all. I didn't, and so want to see it again, but I think I caught most of the necessary details. Vince was much better, more thorough, full, than what I've seen him in before (which isn't much) and now I'll expect more. Judd, Davies, and Rudd are also fairly unfamiliar, but now I'll get at them too. They were all fine, but I want that second viewing. I'll probably tape it, but it only came on once this month here. Maybe I'll rent it. Certainly not upbeat, but so is life sometimes. The actors had me reacting with both anger and tenderness, so I hope that won't be lost next time. As for other mentioned films, Cat left me cool, Hud I love, and remaking Streetcar sans Leigh, Brando, Hunter, et al, is fruitless, even with full dialogue. I'm much more on the positive side with this one so far...hope it lasts...