The Pest (1997)

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

Director:

Paul Miller

Writers:

David Bar Katz (story), John Leguizamo (story)

Stars:

John Leguizamo, Jeffrey Jones, Freddy Rodríguez

1 nomination.

Cast

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

Storyline

Miami scam artist Pest Vargas is on the run from the Scottish mob and a German headhunter, the mob after 50,000 dollars, the German guy after his head. Pest dons many disguises in an attempt to evade their clutches.

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Plot Keywords:

manhunt | scottish mafia | scottish mob | scotsman | pretending to be chinese | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Charles Hallahan who was in this movie and in Dante's Peak were both released on the same date February 7 1997

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Goofs

When Pest is having his toast with Gustav, and is presented with his weapons, the camera cuts back and forth between Pest and Gustav. Sometimes when the camera is on Gustav, you can see it is raining, even though in other shots it is a sunny day.

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Quotes

[after he pees his pants from fright]
Pest: I'm sorry. I couldn't make it to the newspaper.

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Connections

Referenced in Showbiz Today: Episode dated 7 February 1997 (1997)

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Soundtracks

For All We Know
Written by Robb Royer (as Robb Wilson), Jimmy Griffin (as James Griffin) & Fred Karlin
Courtesy of Pioneer LDCE Ltd.

User Reviews

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)

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 February 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Pest

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,817,278, 9 February 1997

Gross USA:

$3,600,616

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,600,616

Company Credits

Production Co:

Papazian-Hirsch Entertainment International, The Bubble Factory, TriStar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1