THE PEST

US, 1997, 84 minutes, Colour.
John Leguizamo, Jeffrey Jones, Edoardo Ballerini, Freddy Rodriguez, Tammy Townsend, Joe Morton.
Directed by Paul Miller.

For most audiences, The Pest will be absolutely unwatchable. It is difficult to check what audience the film was intended for. It is a star vehicle for John Leguizamo who is a versatile performer on stage, television and in film. He had more serious roles in Baz Luhrmann’s films like Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge. However, he had a lot of comic television specials and uses this style.

The film gives the opportunity for Leguizamo to take on all kinds of disguises, perform in a manic way – beyond Jim Carrey in such films as The Mask. For most audiences, his antics will be particularly tiring.

Jeffrey Jones acts as a former Nazi who is in search of a victim to pay fifty thousand dollars so that he can stalk him and kill him. He has a strange son who travels with him, Edoardo Ballerini.

Leguizamo travels around with his friends, especially Freddy Rodriguez (who was to have a much stronger career at the beginning of the 21st century in Six Feet Under and a great number of films including Harsh Times and Bobby). Even Joe Morton is hard put to bring some gravitas to the film as the father of the pest’s girlfriend.

The director is Paul Miller, a director for television. Definitely for Leguizamo fans only – and even they might find it difficult.