Ernest Goes to Jail

April. 06,1990      PG
Rating:
5.4
Trailer Synopsis Cast

Bumbling bank janitor Ernest P. Worrell is assigned to jury duty, and soon finds himself in trouble when he is covertly switched with a look-a-like crime boss. Ernest must escape from jail to expose the mix-up.

Jim Varney as  Ernest P. Worrell
Gailard Sartain as  Chuck
Bill Byrge as  Bobby
Barbara Tyson as  Charlotte Sparrow (as Barbara Bush)
Randall "Tex" Cobb as  Lyle
Charles Napier as  Warden
Jackie Welch as  Judge
Jim Conrad as  Eddie
Jeffrey Buckner Ford as  Defense Attorney (as Buck Ford)
Bruce Arntson as  Juror

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Reviews

KnotMissPriceless
1990/04/06

Why so much hype?

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Lawbolisted
1990/04/07

Powerful

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Sameer Callahan
1990/04/08

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

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Keeley Coleman
1990/04/09

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

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ilovemovies2016
1990/04/10

Best Ernest movie of the series but have more to watch yet. mediocre comedy but still the best yet i have seen short and sweet review

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goldfussmikey
1990/04/11

I have to be in a special mood to watch this, but it's one of those movies that I watch with my dad, and we end up holding our sides from laughter.'Ernest goes to jail' is the only one of the Ernests that I can watch on a tolerating level. Although the more I've watched it with my dad, the more I've come to enjoy it. The movie is filled with quotable lines and memorable moments that just get funnier by the moment. Hats of to Jim Varney. Even though this movie really doesn't take itself seriously, he puts on an incredible performance playing two difficult roles on opposite extremes. He nails both roles to perfection. Maybe it's the family tradition that has made me warm up to this movie. Maybe it's the over-the-top drama or the quotable lines, but one thing is certain, it's never fails to make me laugh.

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bug76
1990/04/12

Some may say that people will get tired of Ernest. It's hard to believe. He's been gone for 11 years and there's still no sign of people forgetting Ernest. If people were tired of him much earlier on, why, I ask you, did Varney make 4,000 commercials? Yes, 4,000. I didn't add an extra 0 here. That's unheard of with any one else. Varney was the only one to reach cult status with 30 second ads. I don't even like commercials and I found his thoroughly entertaining. I loved them so much,I bought them on DVD. With that said, "Ernest Goes to Jail" is hilarious. And, we get to see him play bad-guy, Mr. Felix Nash-quite a difference from Ernest's goofball slap stick. Nash is far from Ernest, being organized, clever and mean. In this installment from the Ernest line, Varney shows off his God given rare talents. Looking in the mirror in jail, he tries to come off as Nash by using different voices and facial contortions. It never fails to make me laugh. The ink pen scene is classic. It's so funny watching him try to clean off the ink only to smear it worse all over his face. Plus, he gets electrocuted 4 times in this movie. "Hey,Vern! No one gets electrocuted like Varney, KnoWhutImean?" The beginning of the movie has Ernest trying to start the floor polisher only to have it take on a mind of its own by dragging Ernest all over the floor and up the wall. Ernest's screams are just adorable. Especially 4 minutes and 34 seconds into the movie. Any other jail movie would be loaded with violence and bad language and the fact is, I wouldn't care to watch them. This is probably the only jail movie that was free of vulgarity and was still a treat to watch. Varney made his Ernest movies kid friendly-for all ages to enjoy. C'mon, we all know that Ernest was Jim's true calling because mostly everyone refers to him as Ernest. And no one will ever be able to replace him. I know that Vern missed Ernest. He even left a note for Ernest at www.vernssuicidenote.blogspot.com. I've read it. It's quite humorous as well. When I first saw "Ernest Goes to Jail" at 14 when it first came out, I wanted a house like Ernest's, right down to that cool washer and dryer. The 'electric toothbrushes' would be pretty nice to have, too. Brush all your teeth at the same time in half the time. We all know that Jim paved the way for people like Jim Carrey and Larry the Cable Guy, but Varney kept it clean. Though, Jim Varney is still my number 1. Of course, with any Ernest movie, it will receive the highest rating possible.

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Lee Eisenberg
1990/04/13

This time, the lovable dimwit gets summoned for jury duty, where a corrupt attorney notices that he looks like a jailbird who wants to break out, so the two get switched. Of course, most of the movie is a series of gags; in "Ernest Goes to Jail", most of the gags relate to electricity. I really liked the whole vacuum cleaner sequence early on. Overall, the point of the movie is just to have fun, and I'm sure that you will. This is possibly the ultimate movie that you watch with a bud. It's quite safe to say that Jim Varney will truly be missed. Knowwhaddamean? FYI: the only other cast member whom I recognized was Randall "Tex" Cobb, who played Lyle. You've surely seen him somewhere.

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