Ernest Goes to Camp

Ernest's summer camp adventure is actually his second feature-length adventure after he began life in TV commercials (not a lot of people know he actually starred in Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam the year before), and it's fairly standard mid-80s family fare.

The clumsy handyman (played, by the late, ever appealing Jim Varney) gets a job as a counselor for delinquent kids who are having trouble fitting in with the more privileged lot. Through pain and pranks he manages to build their confidence. A very tacked-on subplot about an evil businessman wanting scam the Indian camp owner in order to mine the area into oblivion builds to a moderately entertaining climax as Ernest and the kids revolt.

It reminded me a lot of Meatballs and Bushwhacked (both better films) and while it's shot for the big screen (in lovely anamorphic Panavision) John Cherry still directs like it's for TV, and clearly should have done more takes and rehearsals. I doubt kids will notice or care, but it gives the film the rushed feel of a TV production.

Worth watching, if only just once.