Ernest Goes to Jail continues the story of beloved idiot, Ernest P. Worrell (this time with his dog, Rimshot). As usual, Ernest finds himself in loads of trouble while serving jury duty and fighting to get his dream job as a bank clerk. Like the first installment of the Ernest franchise, Varney’s Ernest, as well as nearly all of the characters surrounding him, are ridiculous; they rarely do anything that would, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered rational and their interactions with one another are nonsensical. While the films, as a whole, mirror one another in tone and mood, the story in this film was far superior to that of Ernest’s first film. The story was more appealing due to the fact that it was a lot more fun and the stakes were significantly higher than before. As Ernest learns that his battle is not only to prove his innocence but to survive death row, emotions run high and the most interesting character from either film presents himself; that character is Lyle (Randall “Tex” Cobb). Lyle is, by far, the most dynamic character that John R. Cherry III’s film has to offer as he transforms himself from a hired muscle to a caring and rational individual essential to the plot. The end of the film, while incredibly ridiculous, was a lot of fun and--especially for children--was laugh out loud funny. This film is very clearly not meant to attract large audiences; it does, however, work very well for those who are able to suspend their disbelief, appreciate childish humor and just want to sit back and relax for an hour and a half with not a care in the world. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099512/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
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