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Poster for Ernest Goes to Jail

Ernest Goes to Jail

1990 · 81 min

A silly, good-natured comedy full of slapstick and absurd gags that's easy to enjoy without thinking.

Directed by
John Cherry
Genres
Comedy, Family, Crime
Tagline
Guilty of Maximum Fun in the First Degree!
Overview
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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Rent or buy in the US
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More options Data from JustWatch
Directed by
John Cherry
Genres
Comedy, Family, Crime
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • absurdstrength 3 of 3
  • whimsicalstrength 3 of 3
  • lightstrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
Pacing
brisk, 3 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • identity
  • deception
  • friendship
  • justice
  • family
Places
  • small town
  • prison
  • workplace
Era
contemporary
Audience
family
Form
  • twist ending
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action5
Horror1
Humour8
Realism2
Romance2
Tension3
Darkness2
Complexity2
Emotional weight2

In this series

Ernest Collection

  1. Ernest Goes to CampMovie · 1987
  2. Ernest Saves ChristmasMovie · 1988
  3. Ernest Goes to JailMovie · 1990 This title
  4. Ernest Scared StupidMovie · 1991
  5. Ernest Rides AgainMovie · 1993
  6. Ernest Goes to SchoolMovie · 1994
  7. Slam Dunk ErnestMovie · 1995
  8. Ernest in the ArmyMovie · 1998

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Cast

Where to watch in the US

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Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
comedy, family, crime
Directed by
John Cherry
Written by
Charlie Cohen
Starring
Jim Varney, Gailard Sartain, Bill Byrge, Barbara Tyson, Barry Scott, Randall 'Tex' Cobb, Dan Leegant, Charles Napier
Music
Bruce Arntson, Kirby Shelstad
Cinematography
Peter Stein
Runtime
81 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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