Ernest Goes to Jail (1990): Dir: John R. Cherry III / Cast: Jim Varney, Gailard Sartain, Barbara Bush, Randall "Tex" Cobb, Bill Byrge: Average comedy that treats its prison theme with contempt. The next film should be called Ernest Goes to Therapy, which he should seek if he finds the slightest joy in jury duty. Ernest is a janitor at a bank where a jury duty opportunity has him knocked unconscious and replaced by a criminal look-alike who happens to be on death row. Formula follows his many escape attempts as well as the criminal's inability to fill his shoes. In Escape From Alcatrez Clint Eastwood doesn't have quite as much fun in the pen. The ending is a complete free-for-all where all logic goes out the window. Director John R. Cherry's third Ernest film with fine special effects but not quite up to Ernest Saves Christmas. Jim Varney should be given credit for playing off two very different roles successfully. Gailard Sartain steals moments as a buffoon security guard whose security ideas are a constant bust, and Bill Byrge plays his silence yet agreeable sidekick. Barbara Bush plays the standard damsel whom Ernest is smitten by. Randall "Tex" Cobb plays a prison inmate who is to teach Ernest how to be his look-a-like while becoming fond of his good natured qualities. While not the worst of its kind, its reality of prison is treated like fun fair instead of the dread it is. Score: 3 ½ / 10

Handyman Ernest is called up for jury duty where the crook on trial realizes that he's a doppleganger for his incarcerated boss. After a convoluted switch Ernest if behind bars while his evil counterpart Nash is working night security at the bank, planning to rob it and make moves on Ernest's girl.It's a familiar plot, and the production values are not that great (what's with all the pink lighting in jail?) but Jim Varney's mugging and the story's eccentric imagination make it a fun watch. It's a tighter movie than Camp though, which I felt was a bit of a false start to his big screen adventures.It's hard to believe Varney was only 40 at the time of filming, and that he'd only live another 10 years. As crass as the Ernest movies might be they are a constant reminder of an actor who's abilities were wide, but never got the recognition he deserved.

Okay, this is another Ernest movie and a lot of people just don't like them because they think they are dumb. I like them because they are dumb. There is no pressure to follow a complex, involved plot, the gags are juvenile yet funny, and the end is always predictable with Ernest inadvertently winning the day. In this movie he actually gets to stretch himself by playing not only playing the insipid, bumbling character of Ernest but also the hard case gangster who he is the twin of. Jim Varney made a career (until his untimely death) out of playing Ernest and he did it well, after all look at how many Ernest movies are out there.

This "Ernest film" is a typically silly, stupid-at-times one but still wholesome in its humor and sometimes very funny.The best moments in here, at least the ones that made me laugh hardest, were in the bank with Jim Varney ("Ernest") and a runaway vacuum cleaner. Yes, there is a lot of juvenile humor in here, but the totally-innocent lightweight humor is fun.Varney also does some imitations in here, and he's quite good at it. He's done this in several of his movies and it is always entertaining.For those wondering about their young kids watching this, there is absolutely no offensive language in this movie, too. Now that's a rarity for a 1990 film.