Ernest in the Army (1998)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Just perfect...

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I have to admit that I don't really understand where Ernest came from or why anyone thinks he should be in movies.I think he started out doing commercials that weren't funny so of course the Hollywood morons decided he was a superstar.That makes sense.Somehow I managed to make it this long without ever seeing an Ernest movie and now I know why.This movie has absolutely no plot or comedy.I don't think it's technically even a movie.Since I don't know the subtle nuances of the Ernest character, I can't be sure how much of the crap in this movie should have been expected.Was his best friend always in the Army?I guess I will never know.So anyway,his friend tells him he can drive if he joins the army but wanting a girlfriend is why he ends up joining.So he has no problem quickly joining the Army and is immediately driving.Did I mention that almost everyone in the Army wears a different uniform?None of them are even close to the same and most are very ill-fitting.At one point Ernest day dreams and he's wearing a uniform that has the gunnery sergeant stripes upside down.I'm sure everyone who ever served loved that.But Ernest doesn't even wear a uniform, he just wears his True Value vest.His commanding officer does a John Candy impression through the whole movie and it's almost never funny.As far as I can tell, the only joke in the movie was about gummy candy.It was not funny and didn't really make any sense.Did I mention that he joined the reserves who are immediately deployed on a peace keeping mission led by a British soldier?Or that everyone else in the reserves had a machine gun?Or that they left him on a beach and it just cuts to him being with them again?There's also some story line where some guys narrates his sad story and it makes the movie worse.It turns out his son is a black American who dresses like he's in Dexys Midnight Runners.Every other middle eastern person dresses appropriately yet this kid has somehow cobbled together a British hobo costume.If Varney hadn't died there would be 15 more of these terrible movies.Yay death!

Wow!! I never thought they could pull off another good "Ernest" movie after that horrible "Ernest Goes To Africa", but they did. In this installment, Ernest P. Worrell is a nit wit recruit in the army who goes to the front lines, and of course like other "Ernest" movies a LOT of hilarious stuff happens in the process!!Jim Varney pulls off another great performance as Ernest in what would be the last "Ernest" film, and one of Jim Varney's last projects (He died a few years later. I was sad when he died.). I recommend this one to any die-hard "Ernest" fan.

After watching Ernest Goes to Africa, I never felt another Ernest movie would come out. What a visceral surprise to see this movie on the video shelves. Moronic and only occasionally funny, I was surprised they didn't do an Ernest in Space or something like that. Jim Varney should have stepped in and said something before this movie was made. I mean, if he was that hard up for money, why couldn't he ask the loyal Ernest fans of the world to help him. A sad pitiful chapter in the life of Ernest P. Worrel.

Another harmless outing for Ernest. The title says it all, this time he's in the army...though much of the time, the attempted gags don't often have that much to do with the army. Much of the time it seems the film should've been called "Ernest in the Desert." There are a few minor chuckles, and plenty of failed bits. Yet, it's tough to really call this a bad movie. It just doesn't leave you with that same icky feeling you get from watching a really bad movie. The kiddies will like it.