Memorable, crazy movie

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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

Visiting a "maximum security" prison during jury duty, hapless bank janitor Jim Varney (as Ernest P. Worrell) is switched with a look-alike inmate named "Felix Nash" (also played by Mr. Varney). Now incarcerated, Ernest at first thinks he's sequestered, but he realizes he's in prison quickly enough (considering). Out of jail free, nasty Mr. Nash can't believe his good luck upon discovering he now works in a bank with kissable blonde Barbara Bush (as Charlotte Sparrow). Eventually, Ernest must set things right. In this one, Ernest has haphazard magnetic powers, which come in handy during execution.**** Ernest Goes to Jail (4/6/90) John Cherry ~ Jim Varney, Barbara Bush, Gailard Sartain, Bill Byrge

Yes, I had the misfortune of watching this film when I was younger at a friends house as his mother was a teacher and she wanted to screen the movie and see if there were any inappropriate scenes that a parent might object to. Well other than the unfunny jokes I think this one was in the clear, well the unfunny jokes and the strange scene where the look a like Ernest hits on a girl. So yes, Ernest gets thrown in jail thanks to a look a like and proceeds to try to escape and there is other stuff to it like him becoming magnetized at one point, shooting electricity, and in a very painful to watch finale flying. There are a couple of jokes, but nothing to much to mention except for the gun carved from soap...I think that is the only scene me or my friend's mother laughed out loud at. This and camp are the only two Ernest movies I have ever seen and from what I have seen in them I am not going to track down the other films. Ernest was good in small doses, but a movie is just to much even when it is as short as this one. I figure though the films made money, mainly because all you need is Varney and a location and a theme and you have your movie.

This movie brings back so many memories for me! I was very young when it came out but I remember the first time I saw it! My dad and I would always watch the "Ernest Movies" together. We hadn't seen any of them in several years and I found a couple of them really cheap. We watched them and could not stop laughing. I love all of the "Ernest Movies," but this one is my favorite.Spoiler part! The part I remember most is the "magnet" part. My dad still does the electric chair scene! End Spoiler!This is a very cheesy movie...but a great one! It's perfect for families (it isn't like a lot of the trash out there) but at the same time adults can laugh too! If you like physical humor (like facial expressions and the way people move) then this is the movie for you!