The Pest

1997 "What kind of freakazoid would let someone hunt him just to collect $50,000? …Next question."
4.8| 1h22m| PG-13| en
Details

Fast-talking Latino con artist Pestario "Pest" Vargas is the target of Scottish mobsters to whom he owes a considerable debt. Willing to do anything to raise money and avoid severe injury or death, Vargas agrees to a very unusual job -- he will be transported to a remote island and hunted by Gustav Shank, a racist German executive. If he can survive a full day and night, Vargas gets $50,000 and will be set free. Is he wily enough to elude Shank?

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Reviews

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
FlashCallahan Miami scam artist Pest Vargas is on the run from the Scottish mob and a German headhunter.The mob are after the 50,000 dollars he owes, and the German after his head.The first ten minutes of this movie are the most xenophobic, politically incorrect things I've seen in nineties cinema, and it goes downhill from there.I have no idea what Leguizamo was thinking when he made this movie, and it's an even more sobering thought that he helped to create the movie also.It must have something to do with the direction, but it's Leguizamos pet, and it should have been put down during the initial pitch.Imagine Hard Target played for laughs, but without any funny scenes, or action, and you have this movie.All the cast are pretty bas, and i'm sure there is something in this movie that will offend everyone.when a film has a character called Malaria, you know something is wrong.
Ben Harnish I actually joined this site simply to write in about this movie. I was sitting in my living room and this movie came on one of the local channels. I made it about an hour through before I simply had enough. Curious to see what the general movie-opinionated public thought of this movie, I looked it up on this site. I was absolutely shocked to see that there were an overwhelming amount of people that thought it was great. I needed to have my say, and here it is: This movie is absolute garbage. It was a chore to sit through. The "jokes" were uninspired rehashes from other, better shows and movies, and Leguizamo's manic portrayal of this obnoxious character should only appeal to age ten and below. That actually may be a stretch even for that age. I'm all for slapstick ridiculousness, but there isn't even the faintest hint of wit or cleverness. I have an idea, lets take bad uninspired obvious jokes and play them at twice the speed. Now that's funny. Ha. Ha.Movies that you should see that take silly humor and add comic timing and originality: The Marx Brothers' A Night at the Opera, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut,...and the list goes on. Don't lose an hour and a half of your life on unmemorable crap.By the way, I can only assume that the reason that David Bar Katz (the other writer) did VERY little in film after this movie is because he was instantly blacklisted. I'm actually impressed that Leguizamo was able to recover after this mess.
Johnnycitystar At times when I watch this movie i start to think that the people who made this movie were on drugs.What's wrong with this film I'll tell you Bad Plot,Bad Jokes.Bad Acting and flat-out characters everything just bad.The movie is about Pest Vargas a two-bit scam hustler who is given the chance at $50,000 to survive for 24 hours by a German hunter who kills people for a living.so now Pest must think of ways to out think this hunter before he gets killed.I know what your thinking "What The Hell is this?" a another wannabe Ace Ventura trying to get money really this plot is just dull and confusing at times it changes the story plot and you get lost during the film.As for the funny scenes this film I had a straight face oh yeah I did smile a couple times but nothing laugh-out loud.besides the jokes are corny and seen before it's like watching Ace Ventura meets Dumb and Dumber but bad.As for character development it's dry and flat.You don't learn much about the main character Pest all you know is he's a annoying scam hustler but that's it he doesn't change his image or be a little smart just corny.as for The German hunter all you is that he's crazy and wants to go back to Germany.really you start to wonder why is this guy living on an island if has money to go to Germany.The hunter's son Himmel fares better but not much.He's really a coward and is snake-obsessed for reasons by the end He stands Up to his father and sides with Pest.As for the acting no only were there any memorable perforamces but just over the top.For example John Legizomo is so over the top with performance and dosen't fit in his role he's out of place as for Jeffery Jones who plays the hunter same thing but gives a stereotypical performance as well.as for the rest either just no used enough or just over the top.overall bad comedy that you'll find for $2.00 at K-Mart.
eliseo_john This movie has been my favorite comedy since it came out. I cried laughing. I think this role was perfect for John Leguizamo. And Chubs and Ninja did an awesome job. You know a movie is good when you can watch it over and over again and never get tired of it. You will never know if you like a movie unless you watch it. Rent this movie, it will be worth your time and money. The people who gave the a 1 or a 2 wouldn't know a good comedy when it slapped then in the face. I won't spoil anything for you but the movie was Hilarious with a capital H. Don't eat anything when you watch it though, you might die. I give this movie a 9 out of 10.