The Locusts

A cliche-ridden movie with a lusty widow and a mysterious drifter. And oh yeah, they have secrets. And we know it takes place in the quasi-South since everyone drinks iced tea out of Mason jars. Despite the cliches and sloppy film-making, it's completely enjoyable. Cheesy, corny, fun, sexy and often touching thanks to lovely performances by Vince Vaughn and Jeremy Davies. And someone PLEASE remake Streetcar Named Desire quickly. Vince Vaughn is a star in the making, and he and Ashley Judd sizzle. Stanley and Stella, anyone?

Considering that any subsequent viewing of this film will be on video or cable, why not take a look? The draw being a good performance from Vince Vaughn. The writing is terrible and the dialogue is almost embarrassing. The plot is ridiculous, full of literary (but really juvenile) symbolism.

Somehow, Vaughn still manages to be fun to watch, even when he is castrating bulls.

I have always thought that Vince Vaughn was a decent actor but this film just proves I was wrong...he is fantastic! Ashley Judd, Kate Capshaw, and Jeremy Davies turn in performances that would earn them award nominations if the movie had any media backing whatsoever. Great film.

In the 50's, the drifter Clay Hewitt (Vince Vaughn) arrives in a small town in the countryside of Kansas and befriends the locals Kitty (Ashley Judd), Earl (Paul Rudd) and his girlfriend Patsy (Jessica Capshaw) after punching their friend Joel Carter (Daniel Meyer) in a bar. Clay asks for a job to raise money to go to California, and Earl drives him to the ranch of the widow Delilah Ashford Potts (Kate Capshaw) to work with him in the slaughterhouse. Mrs. Potts is an alcoholic and promiscuous woman and hires Clay and let him stay in the barn. When Clay meets her son Joseph "Flyboy" Potts (Jeremy Davies), he learns that he has just returned from a mental institution after eight years and he does not speak a word to anybody. Further, his only friend is a bull called Jim that belonged to his father. Clay falls in love with Kitty and gets close to Flyboy that becomes his friend and slowly changes his behavior. When Clays decides to leave the town, he discloses a dark secret to Kitty. Meanwhile Flyboy's change of attitude unleashes a series of evil events and revelations from Mrs. Potts.

"The Locust" is one of the most powerful dramas shown in the American cinema industry, with a depressive and heartbreaking story of family revelations. This film is almost perfect, with wonderful direction, performances, cinematography, art direction and music score. Further, it is dramatic but never corny. It is also impressive how the distributors have neglected this film that was only released on VHS in Brazil. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Segredos Imperdoáveis" ("Unforgivable Secrets")

Normally when I hear or read the title of a movie, I have some idea of what it could be like. That's not always correct, but most of the time it works - especially with famous movies of course. But when I read the title of this movie, I really didn't know what it would be about. Of course I didn't think that it would be a movie about the insect, but I just couldn't form a good idea about it. That's why I just gave it a try, not knowing what to expect, but hoping for the best. And I'm glad that I did, because this certainly was a nice movie.

"The Locusts" is situated in the 1950's and shows how the arrival of Clay Hewitt changes life drastically in a small town. He's looking for a job and is hired by the local feed ranch's owner, an aging widow who likes to drink and seduce younger men. He quickly becomes her new lover, but also has an eye for her quiet son Flyboy. The boy hasn't spoken a word in years and is completely withdrawn since the death of his father. The only one who he talks to since his recent return from a mental hospital is his pet bull. But Clay wants to give it a try and gradually he manages to get the boy out of his isolation, much against the will of the boy's mother...

Even though this is perhaps not the most original story ever, I must say that I had a good time watching this movie. The acting has a lot to do with that of course. Vince Vaughn is very enjoyable as Clay Hewitt and Kate Capshaw did a very fine job portraying Delilah, but in my opinion it is Jeremy Davies as Flyboy, who was the best this time. But overall this is a movie that portrayed its characters well and didn't drown in an overdose of plot twists. This is John Patrick Kelley's first and so far only film, but it certainly makes me look forward to new projects from this man. I give this movie a rating between 7/10 and 7.5/10.