The ERNEST series gets a shot in the arm with this above-par entry involving the beloved blue-collar boob with gems stolen from an African idol. Jim Varney hasn't improved in the versatility department, but the supporting cast is crisply professional and the hoary gags date back to the
Cenozoic rather than the Paleozoic Era.
An African cannibal tribe is outraged when adventurer Thompson (Jamie Bartlett) steals the jeweled eyes from their god's statue. In the process of getting the pilfered objects to private collector Prince Kazim (Robert Whitehead), Thompson loses them at an Ohio flea market.
Eager to impress local waitress Renee (Linda Kash), jerk-of-all-trades Ernest T. Worrell (Jim Varney) buys the idol's eyes (which he assumes to be worthless trinkets) and fashions them into a yo-yo. Unfortunately, Thompson's agents discover Ernest's purchase. Stalling impatient Prince Kazim until
he can reappropriate the stolen gems, Thompson forcibly ships interloping Ernest and Renee off to Africa, where he hopes they'll cough up the jewels. On the Dark Continent, Ernest disguises himself as a widow in order to free himself and Renee from Thompson's guard, Bazoo (Sello Sebotsane). After
keeping his virtue intact during a brief stopover at Prince Kazim's harem, Ernest and Renee flee through bush country.
Seized by unfriendly locals, Ernest and Renee nearly become soup ingredients. When he tracks them down, Thompson forces Ernest into a tribal truth-challenge, but is felled by Ernest's dexterity with his homemade yo-yo. During the bout, the yo-yo falls apart and the jubilant tribesmen retrieve
their idol's eyes. The foregoing events cause Renee to turn down Ernest's proposal of marriage: his life is just too exciting for her.
Since the Ernest-phobic won't go near this movie, it's best to review this paean to plebeianism for the predisposed. Only Ernest groupies will respond charitably to the director's slippery grasp on framing slapstick routines and to a script that runs in circles through similar perils. Though
obviously inspired by 1995's ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS, there is no disputing that the Ernest series benefits from the change in locale, as well as from losing the sentimentality that marred SLAM DUNK ERNEST (1994). Concentrating on sundry cliff-hanging mishaps, ERNEST GOES TO AFRICA succeeds
by lampooning the INDIANA JONES movies and putting a moron in Harrison Ford's boots. Varney is an affable goofus, and the tried-and-true gags are resilient enough to reaffirm this series' comical ernestness. (Violence.) leave a comment