The Pest (1997)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Paul Miller

Writers (WGA):

David Bar Katz (story) &
John Leguizamo (story) ...

Release Date:

7 February 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

What kind of freakazoid would let someone hunt him just to collect $50,000? Next question.

Plot:

A Miami con man agrees to be the human target for a Neo-Nazi manhunter, in order to collect $50,000 if he survives.

Plot Keywords:

Disguise | Neo Nazi | Fart | Snake | Island

Cast

John Leguizamo	...	Pestario 'Pest' Vargas
Jeffrey Jones	...	Gustav
Edoardo Ballerini	...	Himmel
Freddy Rodríguez	...	Ninja (as Freddy Rodriguez)
Tammy Townsend	...	Xantha Kent
Aries Spears	...	Chubby
Joe Morton	...	Mr. Kent
Charles Hallahan	...	Angus
Tom McCleister	...	Leo
Ivonne Coll	...	Gladyz
Pat Skipper	...	Glen Livitt
Jorge Luis Abreu	...	Piercer
Jennifer Broughton	...	Bank Employee
Yau-Gene Chan	...	Cook (as Yau Gene Chan)
Judyann Elder	...	Mrs. Kent

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude sexual, scatalogical and ethnic humor.

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Spain:13 | UK:12 (video premiere) | USA:PG-13 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bubble Factory, The

Trivia:

Cameo: [David Bar Katz]the writer appears as the man outside the Paris Club, who says, "Parties are never "mad", they're angry."

Goofs:

Continuity: When pest is having his hunting toast on Gustav's island his glass is empty for two shots and then is full for one and becomes empty again on the fourth shot.

Quotes:

[after his crotch caught on fire]
Pest: Fear not. The Pest line shall continue. My childrens have been savededed.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Three Stooges Fun-O-Rama (1959)

Soundtrack:

The Pest (Voodoo Mambo)

It's NOT a love-it-or-hate-it film...it's neither extremely bad not extremely good.

"The Pest" has moments of mind-numbing stupidity (and at least five fart jokes too many). It's also offensive in its homophobic attitude, and its anti-German sentiments are so strong that you would think the script was written in 1940. But it still is a very easy film to watch, because it looks slick, it moves fast, and it has one hell of a driving music beat to it. It also has some hints of surrealism (the "dueling car stereos" scene), and does make you laugh a couple of times: not so much with Leguizamo's "impressions" (which are mostly awful), but at other, rather unexpected moments (the "Stop repeating what I'm saying! I mean it!" scene). I'd say it generally makes you laugh more often than many other comedies that have a higher reputation. (**1/2)