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Ernest Goes to Camp

Play trailer Poster for Ernest Goes to Camp PG 1987 1h 32m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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62% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Kamp Kikakee janitor Ernest (Jim Varney) finally gets to be counselor, for a bunch of juvenile delinquents.

Critics Reviews

View All (13) Critics Reviews
Joshua Tyler CinemaBlend Rated: 4/5 Mar 17, 2008 Full Review Steve Crum Video-Reviewmaster.com Typical, typical Ernest nonsense, cookie cutter funny. Rated: 3/5 Mar 6, 2008 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Sep 13, 2005 Full Review Caffeinated Clint Moviehole Feverishly funny family fun Rated: 3/5 Mar 11, 2005 Full Review Linda Cook Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) Rated: 3/5 Aug 4, 2004 Full Review Fred Topel About.com Ernest did much better in some of the follow-ups. Rated: 2/5 Aug 11, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Guy N I constantly hear people say how this is the greatest movie of all time. I strongly disagree! It's maybe top 10 to top 5. I can't think of a better movie off the top of my head, but there has to be at least 1 or 2. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/27/24 Full Review Joel H I know that Ernest Goes to Camp isn’t great. It’s a corny and dated movie for kids. Nevertheless, nostalgia takes over whenever I watch it and I can’t help but enjoy it. There’s something about Ernest that just seems so… earnest. Jim Varney really does a good job of playing the idiot with a heart. I watched this movie with my young kids and was happy to see them laughing at the silly stuff and being concerned about the semi-stressful stuff. So no, I can’t really recommend Ernest Goes to Camp to other adults, but every now and then, when I want to relive a piece of my childhood, I enjoy watching it. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/18/24 Full Review Dale R A camp janitor dreams of one day becoming a camp counselor and finally gets his dream when a group of juvenile delinquents show up to the camp. The target demographic for this film seems to be ten year old boys and I am not in that demographic. For a comedy, the jokes don’t land, the plot is mangled with too many stories and a good portion of the acting is wooden. Jim Varney plays Ernest, a television commercial character, turned television series character brought to the big screen. The writers and Jim don’t yet have a good feel for who the character is yet outside of short sketches. There are a lot of mean spirited characters in this film, while they come around in the end, their mean spirit is the only source of humor in the film and that doesn’t hold up today. I’d say skip this film. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 07/07/24 Full Review Jacob F Great movie always loved watching the ernest movies as a kid!! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/14/23 Full Review StephenPaul C LOL, the funniest 01 hour: and 32 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The best of Ernest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/11/23 Full Review Audience Member I remember watching this over 10 years ago Ernest P. Worrell works maintenance at Camp Kikakee yet dreams of becoming a counselor He leads a group of juvenile delinquents that are picked on and teased by other campers Meanwhile a mining corporation is set to demolish the camp obtaining petrocite but Ernest and his campers won't go down without a fight It's stupid but you can definitely see the charm where the late John Cherry started with this series Gotta love the late Jim Varney as this lovable doofus, he gives it his all mugging at the camera and performing silly jokes and antics for younger crowds Yes the plot is anything but groundbreaking but theres some nice tender moments especially involving the bad kids wanting to change and belong Gotta say for a kids' movie theres so much destruction and mayhem with explosions and vandalism! But it can be forgiven because this is still a fun, heartwarming film This Ernest character is a lovable clumsy goof and that's what makes it worth it Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Ernest Goes to Camp

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Kamp Kikakee janitor Ernest (Jim Varney) finally gets to be counselor, for a bunch of juvenile delinquents.
Director
John R. Cherry III
Screenwriter
John R. Cherry III, Coke Sams
Production Co
Touchstone Pictures
Rating
PG
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Sep 3, 2002
Box Office (Gross USA)
$23.4M
Runtime
1h 32m
Sound Mix
Surround