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, Chubby, Ninja, Himmel, 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 Production Production of the film was announced by TriStar Pictures and The Bubble Factory alongside Slappy and the Stinkers as two projects the companies would produce. Under the terms of a contract between The Bubble Factory and Universal Studios, the production company could automatically greenlight three to four pictures – budgeted at about $8 million to $35 million each – per year for Universal to distribute. Both this film and Slappy and the Stinkers fell below Universal's threshold and became a first-look pact. Sony fully financed both films. Reception Critical response 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 a 4% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 2.9/10. The critic's consensus states: "The Pest aims for zany comedy with social commentary, misses, and lands