Themes: Love Triangles, Mind Games, Southern Gothic
Main Cast: Kate Capshaw, Jeremy Davies, Vince Vaughn, Ashley Judd, Paul Rudd
Release Year: 1997
Country: US
Run Time: 123 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A young drifter unexpectedly wanders into a maelstrom of bizarre sex and shameful secrets in this drama. With a mere seven dollars to his name, Clay Hewitt (Vince Vaughn) happens upon a ranch run by Delilah Potts (Kate Capshaw), a hard-as-nails widow who inherited a cattle empire from her late husband but needed no advice on how to keep it financially successful. While Delilah has become a success in business, she's had much less luck in love; to satisfy her ravenous sexual appetites, she often calls upon her various ranch hands to spend the night with her -- and they learn that saying no to the boss will only make trouble for them later on. Clay asks Delilah for a job, and she agrees; she also invites him to her bed and is startled when he turns her down. While Clay is cautiously fascinated by Delilah, his heart goes out to Flyboy (Jeremy Davies), Delilah's disturbed and withdrawn son who appears to need a friend to reach out to. Clay becomes involved with Kitty (Ashley Judd), a sweet local girl, and together they try to help Flyboy break out of his shell, only to discover that his problems -- and Delilah's -- run deeper than they ever expected. Also released under the title A Secret Sin, The Locusts marked the feature debut of writer and director John Patrick Kelley. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Though writer/director John Patrick Kelly's star-packed debut isn't by any means a good movie, it's at least an incessantly watchable one, brimming with the kind of lurid, Southern-fried melodrama not seen since the heyday of Tennessee Williams. In fact, The Locusts' debt to Williams is downright slavish: there's an earnest drifter (Vince Vaughn); a lusty, almost-past-her-prime matriarch (Kate Capshaw); a sexually confused farmhand (Jeremy Davies) who's apparently received too many kicks to the skull; and the well-meaning, beautiful town sweetheart (Ashley Judd) who tries to console our hero, who in turn finds himself inexplicably attracted to The Wrong Woman. The movie's dew-swept cornfields and sweat-soaked '50s period decor only add to the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof-redux feel. Vaughn's understated performance makes the film worth watching, even if Capshaw's enjoyably campy femme fatale is more in line with the script's kitschy, overheated tone. More far flung is Davies' unconvincing, tic-laden work as the mentally deficient Flyboy: he's like an escapee from a convention of Anthony Perkins impersonators, and Kelly, mistaking mannerism for character, allows his scenes to play on much longer than any audience should have to bear. But for those in the mood for lurid plot twists garnished with loads of atmosphere, The Locusts is passable late-night fare. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Roy Metcalf - Art Director, Bruce Franklin - Co-producer, Marc Ezralow - Co-producer, Gail McMullen - Costume Designer, Bruce Franklin - First Assistant Director, John Patrick Kelley - Director, Erica Flaum - Editor, Kathryn Himoff - Editor, Charles B. Wessler - Executive Producer, Adam Duritz - Executive Producer, Cynthia Guidry - Executive Producer, Beth Holden - Executive Producer, Garrett Grant - Line Producer, Carter Burwell - Composer (Music Score), Happy Walters - Musical Direction/Supervision, Sherman Williams - Production Designer, Phedon Papamichael - Cinematographer, Steven Stabler - Producer, Brad Krevoy - Producer, Bradley Thomas - Producer, Kathleen Cusack - Sound/Sound Designer, John Patrick Kelley - Screenwriter
Vince Vaughn stars as Clay Hewitt, a drifter who wanders into a small Kansas town and quickly becomes popular. Soon after arriving he punches out the local town drunk, falls in love with local beauty Kitty (Ashley Judd), and is hired on the local feed ranch, which is owned by the alcoholic widow Delilah (Kate Capshaw). Delilah is notorious for her admiration of younger men, allowing Clay to stay in the carriage house on her estate. Delilah is sexually attracted to Clay, which is her primary reason for offering him a place to stay. Her son Flyboy (Jeremy Davies) had recently returned from a mental hospital and hasn't said a word to anyone other than his pet bull. Clay slowly breaks Flyboy out of his shell, which unleashes a complex turn of events.
The film currently holds 20% rotten rating on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[1]
Bull castration controversy
A test screening experienced several audience members leaving the theater with their hands over their mouths after seeing a scene with a full graphic bull castration.[2]MGM's marketing chief responded in the Los Angeles Times that the audience members must have reacted only "to what they expect to see" with MGM president of worldwide distribution Larry Gleeson adding "You can do anything to a human being [in a movie], but just don't hurt an animal."[3]
