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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Salesrank: 63878
Released: March 19, 2002 |
| Our Price: $3.49 |
| Used Price: $3.49 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
'superb acting [from] a stand-out cast (The New York Post), including Kate Capshaw, Jeremy Davies, Vince Vaughn, Paul Rudd, Daniel Meyer and Ashley Judd, make this sultry, suspenseful and chilling drama about four people drawn into a deadly web of obsession, an absolute must-see! Delilah Potts (Capshaw) has always had her choice of men to work her ranch and fill her bed. But from the moment Clay Hewitt (Vaughn), a handsome drifter with a mysterious past, arrives at her door, Delilah knows that her life will never be the same. And when he spurns her affections, she unleashes a torrentof forbidden passions and deadly secrets that will prove to Clay that the only thing darker and more dangerous than the past he's escaping...is the one he's about to discover.
The Locusts Reviews:
Outstanding Acting 
2009-12-20 - Although the subject line is very dark and hopeless, the acting was over the top. I have never seen Vince Vaughn more beautiful and passionate... This is the first movie I saw him in and it caused me to want to see all his movies thereafter. Now, it seems, he is bent toward more comical and silly films. Still, in this movie he gives a performance full of presence. One might even compare him to a young Paul Newman or dare I say?.... even Brando? It must have been the 'wife beater' shirts...
Jeremy Davies plays the part of a broken [but gentle] man-child, with grace. His presence in each scene will only incite the most empathetic of all virtues from the viewer. Truly, I wanted only to save him and it was frustrating to see the tragic turn of events that was to seal his doom. It is my observation that Jeremy goes on to play many roles similar to this one.
Kate Capshaw is nothing less than brilliant and persuasive. She conveys the epitome of the evil human being; so full of selfishness; a soul completely absent of conscience; a mother completely devoid of maternal feelings... "Mommy Dearest" will seem like a walk in the park compared to Kate's character.
I believe this movie is worth watching. The lack of hope and the onslaught of sorrow might have you feeling empty; much the way reading, "The Grapes of Wrath" may make you feel, but it's truly a movie that deserved a closer look. I can't imagine why this isn't to become one on the list of classics.
I disagree with the criticisms that others have given this movie in the previous reviews. The attempts at compassion and befriending may be shallow (and indeed they are) but they are no different than those attempts in the movie "Of Mice and Men". There is reason for this, I believe. The strength is in the main characters and their own private hell... no so much in their intamacy with each other.
Sickening 
2008-08-09 - Rarely do I read other reviews before I write my own. I want to focus on a careful expression of my thoughts before allowing the influence of the considered (and often excellent) opinion of others. But I just didn't care enough about this movie to try to think carefully and then express carefully. I wanted to dash off a review--and quickly check to see if others were also offended--to warn to avoid this film. So, first, these opinions from other reviewers:
"Nagging and dragging". . . Exactly!
"Nauseating". . . Exactly!
It is sickening to see this level of cruelty and hatred in a film. Anything positive here--the fun and sexy relationships between the young couples, the camaraderie between workers, between drinkers, the attempts at compassion, at befriending--seems so shallow, so trite, so false. Anything evil here--the hatred of the mother, the sexual sin of the son--seems so real, so true. This is sickening stuff. This isn't a film; it is a pathology report.
Incredible film!
2007-08-10 - If you are a Tennessee Williams fan, The Locusts is a "must have" film for your collection. No, it's not by Tennessee Williams, but it might as well be.
Certainly owing a great debt to the masterful Southern playwright, this film has all the elements of one of Williams' plays. There's the heat, the rural locale, the unspoken mystery, the sexy male drifter and the faded Southern belle.
The Locusts takes place in the 1950's. With the arrival of a drifter, (Vince Vaughn), life changes for many residents of the small town. He gets hired on by the local feed ranch's owner, an aging drunken widow (Kate Capshaw). Clay, the drifter, quickly becomes her new lover, and in the process, also befriends her quiet teen aged son "Flyboy" (Jeremy Davies). The boy hasn't spoken a word in years and is completely withdrawn since the death of his father. He only speaks to his pet bull. Clay tries to get the boy out of his shell, much to the chagrin of the boy's mother. Clay doesn't understand what's going on, but soon it is all revealed and Clay realizes he's stumbled into a hornet's nest.
The acting is superb and the craftsmanship of the film is excellent. Ashley Judd and Paul Rudd also appear in smaller, but pivotal roles. This is a fine film.
I still swear it has to be a Williams' play.....
Southern Goth at its best 
2007-03-05 - Stellar acting from a great ensemble and a plot that could have been written by Flannery O'Connor, Truman Capote and Erskine Caldwell during an all night drinking session. Only disappointment was the last 30 seconds of the film -- a Hollywood ending to a Southern Goth only leaves one wanting more.
Originality, harmonious mix of actors, rural America
2007-01-07 - THE LOCUSTS is an extraordinary movie, what will
please the viewers, from the originality of the
story, and from the harmonious mix of actors chosen. It's
the story of how everyone is unique, each person has their own
strengths and weaknesses, life experiences, social
pressures and too often, people have only a limited
road on which they can walk, on the path of Life and Work.
Clearly, Vince Vaughn is at his best in this movie,
feeling at ease and natural in the role of an "older
brother" to another individual, who is stigmatized,
psychologically impaired, and physically disabled, named Flyboy.
The character is played convincingly by Jeremy Davies, who
perhaps some may underestimate, considering the later valuable role in
Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. Kate Capshaw, does a fine job.
Some have noted the manic, omnipresent "smoking" of this
movie, which defies explanation. Perhaps it's just a
device that was seen as having worked well in the
earlier movie, with Judd too, SMOKE, perhaps the director decided
to employ it in LOCUSTS as well.
The most difficult to believe part, is when Vaughn, a
total stranger to a small town, hooks up, and gets hired
on the basis of one beer, in the local tavern. However,
for the remainder of the movie, all the scenes are
extremely believable and the story unfolds convincingly, thus
captivating the viewers' attentions.
Overall, what makes this movie succeed, is the charm and
"utopia" of another time and space, perhaps 200 years ago,
of a small town, in rural America, aside from the
tragic, and insidious story underpinning how Flyboy's
humanity was destroyed as a child, for example. Other aspects
that many will find interesting, is the libido between
Vaughn and the girls on the farm, including Ashley Judd,
the unease felt by the other men feel in face of all of this, the
tension of a new hired hand joining the group, learning
an entirely new, and unappetizing profession, and more.
LOCUSTS simply takes the viewer on a trip for 90 minutes,
and as such is a valuable addition to a collection. Judd's
presence simply makes the movie even more appealing.
