The Pest (1997 film)

The Pest is a 1997 American comedy film inspired by the classic short story "The Most Dangerous Game". Comedian John Leguizamo plays a Puerto Rican con artist in Miami, Florida named Pestario Rivera Garcia Picante Salsa Vargas (also known as "Pest") who agrees to be the human target for a German manhunter for a US$50,000 reward.

Plot
Puerto Rican teenage con artist Pestario “Pest” Vargas (John Leguizamo) owes $50,000 U.S. dollars to the Scottish mob, led by Angus (Charles Hallahan), who is eager to exact revenge against Pest so that the Scottish mob will finally be feared. Pest, along with his friends Ninja (Freddy Rodriguez) and Chubby (Aries Spears), perform a scam at a festival. While there, Pest promises his girlfriend Xantha Kent (Tammy Townsend) he will have dinner with her and her parents.

Racist German hunter Gustav Shank (Jeffrey Jones), who desires to hunt the warriors of different nationalities, decides to hunt an athlete. His servant mistakenly believes Shank has decided to hunt Pest and brings Pest to Shank, who decides to hunt Pest anyway due to how irritating he is. Shank tricks Pest into allowing himself to be hunted, but despite the warnings from Shank's weirdly effeminate son Himmel (Edoardo Ballerini) in regards to what has gotten himself into, Pest decides to participate anyway, since he will get a $50,000 reward if he survives. As Pest is brought to Shank's private island, Pest is supplied with a tiny gun and runs off into the jungle.

Pest convinces Himmel to get him off the island, and both escape in Shank's boat. Himmel and Pest are attacked by seagulls, and Pest swims to shore, meeting up with Chubby and Ninja at a pool party. Shank arrives in a helicopter and Pest, Chubby, and Ninja flee. Pest goes to Xantha's house for the dinner, only for a tracking device Shank has attached to him to explode. Shank arrives and goes after Pest, only to inadvertently tranquilize Xantha's father (Joe Morton), Himmel, and Ninja.

Pest and Chubby hide in a nightclub. Shank once again attacks Pest, only for Pest to cover Shank in a pheromone that results in him being swarmed by horny men. Pest and Chubby reunite with Ninja, only for them to be shoved into a car with Angus, who Shank has convinced Pest is trying to skip town; Angus takes Ninja as collateral to ensure Pest pays his debts. Shank reveals he has kidnapped Pest's family and Xantha and her family, and has them on board a large boat. Pest and Chubby outwit Shank and free the captives. Shank reveals he had poisoned a drink Pest had drunk, and tells Pest how to find his reward to taunt him; Pest collapses, seemingly succumbing to the poison. The next day, Shank discovers his money has been stolen by Pest, who had vomited the poison out due to getting seasick while escaping the island. Pest has also revealed Shank's crimes to the authorities. Shank is dragged away by several police officers, while Pest, Himmel, Chubby, Ninja, and Xantha drive off with Shank's money.

Cast

 * John Leguizamo as Pestario 'Pest' Vargas
 * Jeffrey Jones as Gustav Shank
 * Edoardo Ballerini as Himmel Shank
 * Freddy Rodríguez as Bruce "Ninja"
 * Tammy Townsend as Xantha Kent
 * Aries Spears as Chubby
 * Charles Hallahan as Angus
 * Tom McCleister as Leo
 * Joe Morton as Mr. Kent
 * Ivonne Coll as Gladyz
 * Pat Skipper as Glen Livitt

Reception
The film was a box office bomb. Jeff Millar of the Houston Chronicle wrote that "This film is utterly without discipline or focus in a way that—to one's shame—one eventually finds oddly endearing". Dwayne E. Leslie of Boxoffice magazine said that "The script and Leguizamo's talents don't mesh, so the actor comes off as more offensive than funny." Bill Hoffman of The New York Post gave the comedy three and half out of five stars. Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle said of Leguizamo's performance "Obviously, someone must have told Leguizamo he's a comic genius. Whoever did that wasn't a good friend." Ken Fox of TV Guide gave the film 1.5 out of 4, and wrote: "Even surrounded by unbearable sloppiness, Leguizamo is fascinating to watch."

The film holds an 8% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 2.3/10. Leguizamo was nominated for Worst Actor for his performance in the film at the 1997 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards but lost to Tom Arnold for McHale's Navy.

The film grossed $3.5 million on an estimated budget of $17 million. Director Paul Miller provided an audio commentary track for the film's 2001 DVD release. The film was rated PG-13 for sexual, scatological and ethnic humor.