Apparently a grasshopper by itself is fine, but when there are more than a hundred of them, they become locusts, a plague, and where there's a hundred, there's probably another thousand on the way. System startup rather ordinary, dealing with the with the issue of Father and Son Ben Johnson and Ron Howard. Howard is coming back from training during WWII, discharged because he wasn't able to handle the duties assigned to him, and is now considered an outcast in his community. In fact, no sooner has he returned, the local store owner publicly annihilates him, and how would you stands there and take it rather than telling the old coot to mind his own business or remind him about not to judge let us be judged.
At least Howard has his mother, Katherine Helmond on his side, and she assures him that everything will be okay. It will be because with the Locust on his way, Howard has to turn immediately into a man to aide his family and dealing with the locusts when they finally do arrive. His younger sister is deathly afraid of them and has a breakdown while they are destroying the field. "A man don't tolerate the consequences of fear", Johnson lectures his son, hard on him but confessing to his wife that the way he sounds reminds him of the sergeant he dealt with during the first world war that he couldn't stand. Johnson may be tough, but at least he doesn't strike out at his son when Howard stands up to him.
While this has some good true-to-life elements, it is a very depressing story that has been told on screen many times, about how nature can destroy the human spirit when but dangerous parts of nature take over. These locusts certainly in abundance are very scary, but this is not a horror film, just a psychological story I'm learning to accept what is beyond one's control, that sometimes a good crop is not possible. There seems to be no way out of the issue here, and there seems to be no fixing the relationship between father and son. Good performances are the true strength of this film that really doesn't show any hope of getting through the crisis that these farmers face.
At least Howard has his mother, Katherine Helmond on his side, and she assures him that everything will be okay. It will be because with the Locust on his way, Howard has to turn immediately into a man to aide his family and dealing with the locusts when they finally do arrive. His younger sister is deathly afraid of them and has a breakdown while they are destroying the field. "A man don't tolerate the consequences of fear", Johnson lectures his son, hard on him but confessing to his wife that the way he sounds reminds him of the sergeant he dealt with during the first world war that he couldn't stand. Johnson may be tough, but at least he doesn't strike out at his son when Howard stands up to him.
While this has some good true-to-life elements, it is a very depressing story that has been told on screen many times, about how nature can destroy the human spirit when but dangerous parts of nature take over. These locusts certainly in abundance are very scary, but this is not a horror film, just a psychological story I'm learning to accept what is beyond one's control, that sometimes a good crop is not possible. There seems to be no way out of the issue here, and there seems to be no fixing the relationship between father and son. Good performances are the true strength of this film that really doesn't show any hope of getting through the crisis that these farmers face.