THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702090285
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 40 lines
FOR JOHN LEGUIZAMO, an up-until-now promising personality, to become no more than a Jim Carrey-wannabe is something of a sad sight to see - especially when the sight is the laughless, embarrassingly overwrought ``The Pest.''
While Leguizamo may covet the $20 million-per-picture salary of a Carrey, he's more in the league of Pauly Shore here.
He plays Pestario Vargas, a two-bit Miami con-artist known as ``Pest.'' His usual game is the simple shell con or milk bottles that can't possibly tilt over. He takes the bait when a German, clearly a Nazi, offers him a $50,000 ``scholarship'' to come to his private island, ``Little Germany.'' The ruse is for him to be used in a human hunt.
This is no more than an excuse for Leguizamo to dance about and yell whenever he, rightfully, sees that the lack of script has left him stranded. There is something to offend just about everyone. There are homophobic ``jokes'' posed as derisive caricatures. There are slurs on just about every ethnic persuasion - including the star as a Chinese delivery boy, an unorthodox Orthodox rabbi, a karaoke-singing Japanese businessman and an over-the-top African. Meanwhile, he's pursued by the Scottish mob, to whom he owes money.
This guy makes Beavis and Butt-head look like paragons of society.
Leguizamo scored markedly with his role as Chi Chi Rodriguez in the comedy ``To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar'' and was just about the only thing worth seeing in ``The Fan.'' He clearly is a better performer than this hapless, laughless outing suggests. ILLUSTRATION: MOVIE REVIEW
``The Pest''
Cast: John Leguizamo, Jeffrey Jones
Director: Paul Miller
MPAA rating: R (language)
Mal's rating: 1/2