This strange, but in the end appropriately named film may confuse potential audience members who might think it's a horror film about giant man-eating cicadas. While it doesn't have such monsters and doesn't fall into that genre, it is a tragedy of epic proportions and includes a "monster" of different sorts that goes by the name of Delilah Ashford Potts. Played against type by Kate Capshaw, she's just as mean-spirited and menacing as her on screen horror cousins. Potts is the focal point around which the plot revolves and she's a formidable force with which to be reckoned. Our hero sent to battle the monster comes in the form of Vince Vaughn, who should make most women in the audience swoon over his handsome good looks and hulking, sweaty body, both of which are reminiscent of early Brando and Newman characters. The victim -- and what a victim we have here -- is the monster's offspring who's being held both physically and emotionally captive by her. The battle for Flyboy, the locust himself, is an amazing thing to watch and the winner of the contest is uncertain ‘till the very end. Okay, enough with the monster film analogies.
This is a fabulous, albeit depressingly tragic film that would make Shakespeare proud. The performances are outstanding all across the board with the best coming from Vaughn and Jeremy Davies. Vaughn, who made his debut and was absolutely terrific in last year's "Swingers," delivers an enjoyable and believable performance. Equipped with nothing more than tightfitting T-shirts, tank-tops and a boyish, but knowing grin, he's certainly the closest to the second coming of Brando and Newman available today. If you're old enough to remember their early films ("Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "The Hustler," "Cool Hand Luke," etc..., or have seen them on video, you know what we're talking about and Vaughn falls right in there with them. Davies, who won critical acclaim for his debut in "Spanking the Monkey," steals the picture with his shell-shocked character whose blossom begins to peek out with Clay's help. The performance is tremendous and don't be surprised to see him earn an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor next spring. Capshaw is good playing way against her normal character type. Although she teeters at times of being melodramatic, she certainly creates a memorable and highly despicable character. Judd and the rest of the cast also provide competent performances and the technical merits are also first-rate.
While the film does take a tragic turn and certainly isn't a happy, feel good movie, it does have those moments and audiences shouldn't be turned off by the depressing sounding story. The scenes where Clay tries to break through Flyboy's shell and finally succeeds are truly heartwarming, often amusing, and extremely well written and acted. Similarly, when Clay and Kitty introduce Flyboy back into the world, the film really takes off. It does this, of course, to make the tragedy that follows all that much greater, and some audience members might give the film low marks for doing so. One shouldn't harshly judge a film for being a tragedy, though, since every film can't have an upbeat ending and many classics fall into that category (think of "Romeo & Juliet"). If a film's going to be tragic, it had better be done well. This feature is, and thus we give "The Locusts" an 8 out of 10.