Why so much hype?

Just so...so bad

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Ernest Saves Christmas (1988): Dir: John R. Cherry III / Cast: Jim Varney, Douglas Seale, Oliver Clark, Noelle Parker, Gailard Sartain: Easily the best Ernest P. Worrell comedy in a series that are largely mediocre. The plot here is more appealing than the average Ernest film. Douglas Seale plays Saint Nick searching for his replacement. He sights a kids entertainer played by Oliver Clark and is aided by Ernest for assistance. There is a subplot involving a runaway teenage girl whom Ernest shelters. She goes through Santa's big red sack, emptying it of its endless contents. How that works is not explained especially when factoring the ratio of children in the world. Maybe we are suppose to just buy the whole magic thing. The conclusion is a farce with reindeer operating like a jet plane but director John R. Cherry 3rd gives the film heart. Production is okay and Jim Varney is funny as Ernest who incorporates wild antics in his attempts to help Santa. Seale makes for an excellent Santa. Clark brings warmth and goodness as the entertainer wrestling with contract issues. Noelle Parker plays the teenage runaway who must comes to terms with decisions that led to her current lifestyle. Gailard Sartain and Bill Byrge are funny as two security guards overwhelmed with surprise packages. Nothing more than an Ernest film but it is a definite cut above the others. Score: 6 / 10

Boy this is a tough one for me to review but it's one that left an impact on me for sure. The holidays are here again and once upon a time this was my favorite holiday film. I was a youngster to be sure but this goofy thing was always on my holiday viewing. It probably also added to my love of the Santa Claus legend. Now as an adult I was tempted to give this a look through the eyes of an adult. It's not the nicest thing to do because as we age we grow cynical but I really wanted to see this movie again.I don't know what happened but I still got a lot of joy out of it. I won't deny that nostalgia probably fogged my lens but 'Ernest Saves Christmas' genuinely matches all the criteria for a heart warming Christmas film. And now you'll ask me "Do you really still enjoy Ernest as a grown man?" No, not really. Oddly enough Ernest is not what draws me to this movie. The thing I love about this movie is it's portrayal of Santa Claus. Ernest is off the wall goofy but the Santa legend is taken super seriously. Douglas Seale gives in my opinion probably the best portrayal of Santa Claus in any medium.And so there are really two films to be reviewed here. The story of a retiring Santa reluctantly hanging up the sack and Ernest making a goof of himself in the process. I almost wish Ernest himself weren't actually in this movie because the stuff with Santa is so interesting and heartwarming. Can you really hate Ernest though? I don't know. Jim Varney definitely shovels it out and throws everything at the wall in the hopes that something might stick. I guess I'd say he's a low rent hillbilly Pee-Wee Herman. I was an Ernest fan as a kid though and so I tried to think about what appealed to me back then. Varney just has a manic energy and does anything for a laugh. Children will love him as did I. Is it deep or sophisticated comedy? No. Is it harmless? Yes. Don't get me wrong there are moments when Varney enters Jar Jar Binks territory but the whole thing is meant to be as goofy as possible and I might as well let it slide. I mean it's Christmas right?What makes me love this film is Santa. Santa Claus is an interesting character with a lot of myths surrounding him. 'Ernest Saves Christmas' has the great benefit of having an actor who treats the role like Hamlet and brings out it's intricacies. I love Douglas Seale in this part. It's like the kind of performance where the actor melds with the character. Seale has a genuine joy in the way he describes the actions of Santa Claus. He interacts with every character with kindness, love, and respect. You would imagine an Ernest film would go for the cheapest laughs but Seales' Santa Claus has nothing but dignity. The plot is a bit contrived but there are stakes here, tremendous stakes. Christmas needs to be saved here and that is because of Seale's conveying the plot. Is he manipulating me? I don't know. On paper I imagine this character reads terribly. Santa spends so much of the film doing nothing but delivering exposition. He does so in a way that perfectly captures the essence of the character but also of the other character's he is interacting with. I don't really see a whole lot of worth in the Santa myth. I always thought it was a bad idea to get kids to believe in Santa Claus but this is the Santa Claus I would want to believe in.I'm not going to bother giving this a star rating or going into it's many other flaws. It's a goofy movie but it still had the power to put me in the Christmas spirit. If you can stand a little annoying Ernest comedy than you are treated to a wonderful portrayal of Santa Claus.

Ernest Saves Christmas is a very underrated Christmas holiday flick. I will agree that it is very silly, and certainly not Oscar worthy. Don't expect a sophisticated plot, and a superlative script. Expect a harmless and fun Christmas comedy, that way you are in for a good time.While very predictable in plotting and rather repetitive and slow in the middle half; especially in the first thirty minutes Ernest Saves Christmas does have its funny moments. And I must say the scene with the magic sleigh was uproariously funny. Amongst the humour, is an in general heart-warming story about Santa and his attempts to find a successor.The camera-work may be a tad dated, but the music is very nice indeed. And I actually thought the acting is above decent, with the late (and talented) Jim Varney wonderfully spirited as Ernest and Douglas Seale is simply great as Santa. The opening credits with the collage of Christmas carols were a delight.Ernest Saves Christmas is an above average seasonal comedy about the power of belief and the dignity of an individual. It is far from a masterpiece, but seriously I wasn't expecting it to be. I got exactly what I wanted, a fun film that while predictable and silly is lots of fun too. I do also think it is underrated; there are much worse movies out there, namely any of the Friedberg-Seltzer movies, Home Alone 4 and Superbabies:Baby Geniuses 2. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I must confess that I love this film. It isn't high-brow entertainment: the plot is pedestrian, and the production values are minimal. That said, this is Jim Varney's magnum opus, and it is simply a delightful, affirmative and even inspirational statement about the power of belief and the dignity of the individual. Ernest is the epitome of, what St. Francis called, the great fool of God. His child-like simplicity and optimistic belief in the goodness of mankind and the benevolence of the Universe is rewarded with the revelation that Santa Claus does indeed exist. Along the way, he manages to showcase his considerable talent for character-acting and his incomparable comedic timing.Yes, Virgina. There is a Santa Claus! And this film gets played at least once a year in my household, a tradition now of almost twenty years standing. It is a cherished talisman of my family, along with A Christmas Story and the 1951 version of Scrooge.If, while watching this film, you don't find yourself laughing and crying and yearning for a world where Santa really exists, you simply are beyond redemption. (And this comes from a man who counts Unforgiven as one of his all-time favorite films).