Bullet Points: The Pest (1997)
The Most Dangerous Game subgenre of action flicks is a vast one. We’ve covered probably a dozen or more of them and they always make me smile. Something about watching a group of people violently hunting a man (or woman) that screams entertainment to me. Surviving the Game and Hard Target are a couple of my all-time favorites in this genre but somehow I developed a strange love for John Leguizamo’s The Pest in my early teenage years. I can’t explain it and I probably haven’t seen the film since then so let’s do a re-watch and just see how crazy or stupid I was…or brilliant. I guess I could have been very brilliant but I highly doubt it.
Synopsis: A Miami con man agrees to be the human target for a Neo-Nazi manhunter in order to collect $50,000 if he survives.
- Is it actually an action film: The clear answer is no. It’s probably about as action-y as the second Ace Ventura movie. Having said that, it does follow the concept of dozens of other action flicks made since the dawn of film. There is some action, though, and it’s because of that I feel comfortable just moving right along with the Bullet Points.
- What the hell is going on?: So The Pest (Leguizamo) is possibly the most annoying guy ever but even now, at the ripe age of 40, I do find much of it very funny. He’s a con artist who gets super in debt to the Scottish mob. The only way he can earn the money and maybe live long enough to go to his girlfriend’s parents house is to accompany them to a private island. Unfortunately for him, he’s invited to the island so they can hunt his dumb ass.
- The Island Hunt: They get Pest all dressed up and are ready to kill him to collect his head. All throughout these bits we meet all the other stupid characters who are somehow around our main hunter Gustav (Jeffrey Jones). He has his other German buddy Leo, and his snake-obsessed son named Himmel. It’s clear they’re all there for different comedy bits but everything revolves around the short-lived hunt that never gets going the way we want.
- The Hunt continues: Pest makes it back to Miami where his antics continue and much like Gustav and Leo, we also want to see him decapitated. I’m not entirely sure why I liked this movie so much in my younger days but I know that this movie could never get made in today’s era. That, at least, makes it slightly better to watch.
- I don’t know what to say: I should’ve never tried to review this for the site and I also should have never watched this past the age of 14. If you’re still reading this than I’m sorry. Sometimes you get “pot committed” and there’s nothing left to do but go on.
The Verdict: I used to know the entire song that The Pest sings in the shower. I’m not proud of it but it’s true. I can’t recommend this movie for any self-respecting adults who are looking for real cinema. BUT, it’s still pretty funny… As long as you know what you’re getting yourself into and you have the sense of humor of a child (me), it’s pretty okay. It definitely doesn’t give you that action fix but we all need to laugh sometimes and remember to not get so offended all the time.
