Synopsis
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.
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Cast
- Jim VarneyErnest P. Worrell
- Gailard SartainChuck
- Bill ByrgeBobby
- Barbara TysonCharlotte Sparrow (as Barbara Bush)
- Barry ScottRubin Bartlett
- Randall "Tex" CobbLyle
- Dan LeegantOscar Pendlesmythe
- Charles NapierWarden
- Jackie WelchJudge
- Charlie LambAnother Con
Recommendations
- 60
Empire
Kids will love it but adults may find it just too silly to sit through. - 50
The New York Times
Ernest Goes to Jail so resembles a high-spirited cartoon that it is likely to be more amusing to children and less painfully obnoxious for parents than its predecessors. - 50
Washington Post
Ernest Goes to Jail is directed by John Cherry, the adman who created the character. And hard as it is to admit it, Cherry is getting better -- better at making endearing an annoying pea-brained pitchman. - 50
Chicago Tribune
Ernest movies would still seem to be an acquired taste, but this one affords the adult viewer a few unexpected pleasures. - 50
Los Angeles Times
Whether you're won over depends on your own taste for ineptitude. Like the others in the Worrell saga, Ernest Goes to Jail is a movie with couch-potato stylistics and switching-channel logic. Watching it is like sitting with a lukewarm TV dinner for an hour or so, while somebody tries to pound you into a Smurf. [09 Apr 1990, p.F12] - 50
San Francisco Chronicle
Ernest Goes to Jail is a cute picture, good for what it is, which isn't much, but that's OK. [07 Apr 1990, p.C3] - 50
The Seattle Times
Last week, it was Ninja Turtles. This week, it's Ernest. And Ernest, quite frankly, is an improvement. It's more colorful, cartoonish, imaginative. And it feels like a movie, not just an advertising ploy. [07 Apr 1990, p.C5] - 40
TV Guide Magazine
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.
