Ernest Goes to Jail (1990)

Jim Varney in one of his best misadventures! The story-line is absolutely hysterical...Jim Carrey and the young Jerry Lewis couldn't have done it better!

Critics take note..there is no such thing as "low-brow" comedy..educated people call it slapstick, and not everyone can do it well. Jim Varney had a "gift", and he knew how to use it...combining this original story with his personality and antics resulted in a gut busting FUNNY film.

I have seen countless great comedies that run the gamut,from The Stooges to Woody Allen. "Ernest Goes To Jail" is right up there with the best comdeies you could own! Too bad it's not on DVD.

Even Walt Disney would have approved!

I really wanted to give this movie the five stars it so rightly deserves, but I can't. The DVD is just very, VERY poor. I will get to that later.

I always loved the Ernest movies when I was a kid, and even today at age 20, I still find them as funny and humerous as I did when I was little, if not more. "Ernest Goes to Jail" is by far my favorite Ernest movie.

Ernest always seems to get in trouble, and this movie is no exception. Ernest P. Worrell works as a janitor at a bank; or at least TRYING to work. Things go horribly wrong when Ernest is framed by a ruthless convict who looks EXACTLY like him, and is sent to the big house. While the evil look-alike is living his life, Ernest has to make it out of jail alive in hopes of proving his innocence. But of course, as always, nothing ever comes easy for Ernest. And the results are hillarious.

Jim Varney is as hillarious as ever in this out-of-control comedy. Forget Jim Carrey, THIS guy was the king of physical comedy. He also takes the challeng of playing TWO roles; playing Ernest, and the evil convict, Nash. And as goofy as this movie is, it actually has a creative story and plot.

The DVD, on the other hand, is not so great. Be warned: it is FULLSCREEN. I don't care if this is a comedy, it should be widescreen. Now, I wouldn't had mind if this movie had not been shot in widescreen, but from what I can remember, this one WAS in theatres, so it HAD to have been shot in widescreen format. But, I guess I can let that slide, since I have never seen the movie in widescreen, and being used to seeing it in fullscreen. The picture quality is so-so; not bad, but not great. Might as well have watched it on VHS. However, the sound quality is really good.

Special features? There aren't any. So don't go searching for them, because they aren't there. Nothing. I would've been satisfied with at least one theatrical trailer.

All in all, "Ernest Goes to Jail" is an awesome movie; despite how poor the DVD is. It's still funny, even today. I almost gave the DVD 3stars, but the movie is so good, I didn't want to give it too much of a low rating. So, I'll settle for 4 stars. Just keep in mind if the DVD wasn't so poor, I would've had no problem giving it 5 stars. It's a 5 star movie on a 2 star DVD. Maybe you should just get the VHS instead, since there isn't much of a difference between the two.

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This is the greatest Ernest film of all time! I couldn't care less of what Leanard Maltin says. If he thinks you IQ has to be lower than 12 to enjoy this movie, then my IQ is lower than 12 (but how would you explain my A in Algebra?). This and Ernest Saves Christmas are the best of the Ernest movies! They are fun for all ages (and IQs)! Too bad Jim Varney had to die. I guess all those electric shocks that turned him into "Ernest P. Worrell, Electroman" finally kicked in, and my he rest in peace.

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This is probably my favorite of the Ernest movies. Man, Jim Varney was a great performer. I was sorry to hear he passed away a few years ago.

In this Ernest movie, Ernest works in a bank as a janitor and is terrible at his job. He hopes to work his way up to being a bank clerk, but there's little chance of that. He gets electrocuted while fiddling around with his floor waxer and it messes his whole body up, because every now and then throughout the film he becomes magnetized and metal objects begin chasing him around.

He has a crush on his coworker at the bank and finally gets a date with her. On the date, he wears the same old vest and brown cap he always wears.

A few days later, he gets a jury duty summons, and is actually delighted that "out of hundreds and thousands of people they could have picked, they chose me." After the trial starts, he's chewing on a pen as he listens to the case, and the pen busts in his mouth, in what has to be my favorite scene in the entire movie.

The defendant in the case notices that Ernest looks exactly like a fellow inmate of his, a convicted killer and bankrobber known as Mr. Nash. The defendant arranges for the jury to have a look at the jail where his alleged crime took place and a switch is made between Mr. Nash and Ernest. With Mr. Nash on the jury, the defendant is found innocent, and Mr. Nash tastes freedom as everyone thinks that this psychotic hardcore killer is plain old kind-hearted Ernest now.

Poor dumb Ernest is in jail for quite some time before he figures out what has happened. He figures he's just been "sequestered" as a juror. Ernest then finds out from other prisoners that he was switched with Mr. Nash, and unless Ernest acts like Mr. Nash to avoid suspicion, the real Mr. Nash who is as free as a bluebird will do bodily harm to his friends.

When Mr. Nash is scheduled to be executed, the warden takes Ernest to the electric chair, but, because he was electrocuted earlier in the movie, he doesn't die. Instead he becomes "Ernest P. Warrel Electroman." He escapes from prison and goes to check on his buddies. He finds Mr. Nash robbing his bank and tries to save the day. He's electrocuted again by the bank's security system, and starts floating in the air. Talk about a really weird scene. Anyhow, Ernest uses his superpowers to stop Nash, and all is well once again.

One thing I noticed is that unlike other Ernest movies, this one doesn't have any kids in it. I don't know if you could call it an adult movie, but adults can sure get some enjoyment out of this. I know kids enjoy it too, and even though there are implications of violence during certain scenes of the film, it's a very clean movie, as all of Ernest's movies are. Perhaps this is the only family film you can find with jail as the setting.

Great movie for Ernest fans, and even people who don't like his clumsy character will probably enjoy this one.

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Jim Varney is clever. he's really hilarious in this one. cuz he gets into a situation he didn't want to be a part of. tries to get out. causes mayhem. makes friends. stops the bad guys. and still is the idiot he started out as. if there's one thing I got from this movie I have on dvd. it's that even idiots can save the day. so don't ever doubt an idiot you know. he or she might be the one that saves your life some day. brilliant script. funny as nails movie. great actors and actresses.

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