Runtime: 91 minutes
Directed by: John R. Cherry III
Starring: Jim Varney, Douglas Seale, Oliver Clark, Noelle Parker, Billie Bird
From: Touchstone Pictures
I’m glad this film featured an actor named NOELLE and the score was from Mark SNOW.
Yes, this was a movie I saw as a child-although not as often as Ernest Goes to Camp-although this was the first time as an adult. One reason for me to view this movie as someone who’s lived near Orlando for the past 21 ½ years: the movie was set & filmed in O-Town.
What I didn’t recall: this movie was even more juvenile and silly than Camp. Two adult men don’t know the difference between “M” and “V,” for example. Yet, I shouldn’t get too critical about a good-hearted lead character in a family film where Santa Claus (he is happy to admit his identity) goes to Orlando to hire his replacement: a now-unemployed children’s TV show host named Joe. The original Orlando Science Center (used as a children’s museum) closed down before I moved here but I recognized various locations… Orlando International Airport, Church Street Station, downtown, etc. None of those businesses downtown are still around, unsurprisingly.
As an adult, yes some moments play differently than with a kid. Ernest is so goofy and asexual, perhaps I shouldn’t question him hanging out 24/7 with a teenage runaway girl who looked about the age of 16… what I did not remember was the number of the taxicab Ernest drove-yes, that was his blue-collar job. That number was… 69!!! No lie-I suppose that was a joke for the adults!
Like I said, the movie is incredibly silly-yet Ernest Save Christmas is still good-hearted (featuring more than one nice message) and for me, it was nice to see a classically-trained actor like Jim Varney don various disguises along the way to assist Jolly Old St. Nick. Plus, there were laughs along the way. Unlike in Camp, there’s a scene where the title character speaks to Vern. That’s a reference to the commercials Ernest originally appeared in-he always spoke to the camera as if it was the unseen character speaks to a neighbor named Vern.
I fear the charm of this movie will be lost on those who are younger than middle-aged me (such as those who weren’t even alive when Jim Varney was-he passed away in February, 2000). However, if you’re around my age and saw those Ernest films during your youth, with any luck an adult viewing won’t ruin any childhood memories. As for the Mark Snow score… it was fine but he (who passed away just a few months ago) is best known for creating The X-Files theme, something I’ll always give him credit for.
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