Ernest Goes to Jail Reviews

Director John Cherry knows it doesn't take much to entertain a 12-year-old, and he has no trouble meeting the expectations of that target audience with ERNEST GOES TO JAIL, the third film to star Jim Varney as Ernest P. Worrell, the character he made famous in television commercials. In this installment, Ernest thinks it is a great honor to be chosen for jury duty. However, he is the spitting image of incarcerated crime boss Felix Nash (also played by Varney), and, naturally, when the jury is taken to visit the jail, a switch is made. While Ernest tries to survive prison (with the help of boxer-turned-actor Randall "Tex" Cobb), Nash plots the robbery of the bank where Ernest, two bungling security men, and beautiful assistant bank supervisor Charlotte Sparrow (Barbara Bush) work. Still, Ernest has a few things going for him: he is so stupid he often does the right thing accidentally and he seemingly has the ability to absorb massive amounts of electricity without any great harm coming to him. Nash, on the other hand, is forced to deal with Ernest's reputation for stupidity and incompetence. Strictly slapstick juvenile humor, ERNEST GOES TO JAIL is simply not very good. But then neither were the first two "Ernest" films, and they both made substantial amounts of money. There must be a segment of the moviegoing public that thinks Ernest is funny, or maybe there are just a lot of 12-year-olds with disposable incomes. To his credit, Varney actually displays some fine acting ability in his multiple roles (he also plays Auntie Nelda), and Gailard Sartain and Bill Byrge are also good as the security guards. Something is wrong with a movie, though, when the director has to take the funniest scene and repeat it at the end of the film just for the sake of a few laughs. This is the kind of film most of us don't really want to admit we've seen, let alone laughed at. Nevertheless, ERNEST GOES TO JAIL gives Varney fans more or less what they expect, and they keep coming back for more. Ernest may not be pretty but he has been profitable.