If you read my review on the TV anthology special starring Ernest titled "Hey Vern! It's My Family Album", then you may already know that this was the first and only Ernest film I ever saw as a kid. As I described in my review, I did remember liking Ernest fine, but I found myself bored by it, and hardly ever laughing at it as a kid, which caused me to avoid watching Ernest movies up to this point. After hearing about the cult following that this film has received (especially from internet critics like the Walker Brothers, and James Rolfe), and reading that the director of most of the Ernest movies considers this film to be the best in the series; I was curious to see if it's as good as people make it out to be, and actually give it a chance, since I shut off the film when I was at the halfway point when I first saw it. Is this an Ernest film that's just as good as the first one, if not better; ON WITH THE REVIEW!
A man who claims to be Santa Claus (Douglas Seale) arrives in Orlando Florida to speak to former children's entertainer Joe Carruthers (Oliver Clark) to take his job of delivering toys to the children around the world, since he's getting too old for the job. Joe unfortunately has trouble believing that he is really Santa, and Santa is thrown in jail by Joe's talent agent (Robert Lesser) who thinks that he is mentally ill. To make matters worse, Santa has left his magic sack full of toys inside a Taxi cab. Fortunately the man driving the cab (that Santa has also befriended) is none other then Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney), who discovers the magic inside the bag, and vows to return it to Santa and break him out of jail so he can talk to Joe one last time, as well as delivering Santa's sleigh and Reindeer to him. Can Ernest and Santa accomplish all this by 7 O’clock on Christmas Eve...well it is called "ERNEST SAVES CHRISTMAS" (I hate it when titles give away the ending)!
When I reviewed Ernest's debut film, I talked about how Jim Varney was able to make his iconic over the top redneck character so heartfelt, even though the material he's given to work with isn't funny. And as much as I found Ernest to be likable in this film, I didn't find him as endearing as he was when he was trying to befriend a group of juvenile delinquents, and try his hardest to become a camp counselor. The film's plot and focus is mostly centered on Santa and the guy he's trying to hire to take his place. Ernest on the other hand just seems to be more of the film's comical supporting character, instead of being the actual star and focus of the film. Sure he helps Santa a few times in the film, but I just never really got the impression that Ernest was the film's leading character with a story-arc. As a matter of fact, it’s really the supporting cast who has all the development, while Ernest just so happens to get in the middle of all this chaos. And that for me is a real downer because the primary reason of what made Ernest so engaging in his debut film was because the film revolved around him and his hopes and dreams that you wanted to see him accomplish. You felt connected to the character of Ernest all the way through, as you were given moments to feel happy and sad for him. Ernest's presence in this film feels like he's only there to attract audiences for marquee value, and provide the majority of the comedy for the film.
Speaking of comedy, remember how I found the majority of the humor to be forced in the last film? Well here it doesn't feel as forced or staged. Now that doesn't necessarily mean that the film doesn't have its share of unfunny hammered in humor because it does. And I'm not going to act like that the film itself is funny either because it isn't. But with that said, much like how I found the climax in "Ernest Goes To Camp" to be enjoyably entertaining if not funny, I can honestly say that the film does carry plenty of scenes that are fun to watch. Some of the best entertaining scenes that the film has to offer are Ernest's reckless cab driving; the scene when Ernest pulls toys out of Santa's magic bag; and the film’s climax as Ernest has trouble pulling Santa's sleigh! I'll even admit that the film did have a few moments that I did find to be funny (unlike the first film), especially the sequence when Ernest is accidentally destroying his neighbor Vern's living room as he tries to put up a Christmas tree that he gave to him (though I do wonder what's keeping Vern from stopping Ernest from wrecking his house). What's also interesting about this movie is we do get to see where Ernest lives which is something I've never seen in the previous film, or his TV Special. Granted, it looks like a cheap copy of the house that Pee-Wee Herman lives in from "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" (that comes complete with Ernest flipping pancakes that hit the ceiling, like Pee-Wee's Breakfast Machine), but it was still nice to see where this childish redneck would live. And speaking of "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure", remember how Pee-Wee was able to disguise himself in no time in one or two scenes? We see Ernest do the same here, only he disguises himself as characters that will later appear in the franchise as their own separate character such as the rich and intelligent Astor Clement, and the dramatic great Aunt Nelda. We also see him disguise himself as his mean uncle Lloyd, who we've previously met in "Hey Vern, It's My Family Album". None of these characters are actually funny, but Varney does manage to put himself into the role of the characters just as convincing and entertaining as he plays his Ernest character. I'll even give Varney credit for making his portrayal of Lloyd Worrell fun to watch, instead of seeing him beat-up his son Mistake as he and his family starve in the TV Special. The only character I found myself disliking out of the three disguises is Aunt Nelda who looks scary and intimidating (especially how we look at that ugly face up close with the use of a wide angle lens).
When I reviewed "Ernest Goes To Camp", I talked about how bland and forgettable the supporting cast of characters in that film were. Well thankfully in this film, we do get characters that are actually likable. Now I'm not saying they're great, or even all that good for that matter, but I did find at least most of them to be more appealing and memorable, when compared to the supporting characters in the last film. Oliver Clark as this Mister Roger's like entertainer who is chosen to be the next Santa gives the character a nice humble approach, while still exposing his limitations of how long he will remain nice and calm, which makes his character come across as believable, if not realistic (though lets face it, when do you expect realism in an Ernest film). The two Elves that are sent to pick-up Santa's Sleigh are fun characters who are enchanting that the two little actors playing them manage to capture. And Noelle Parker as the wise-ass teenage girl Harmony (who is drenched with over the top 80s clothing), as much as she manages to make her character and on-screen presence appear to be charming; the story-arc that's given to her character to me felt pretty cliched and half-assed. Her reason's from running away from home doesn't feel that sympathetic. Her motivations of what she wants to do as she’s running away from home are unclear. And her act of redemption at the end was painfully predictable for how annoyingly phoned-in her reason for doing the right thing was. But as forced as Harmony's story-arc was, she was in the very least still likable. The only characters I didn't find myself liking was the two storage agents who have to take care of Santa's flying reindeer that just stand on the ceiling, that are just as annoying as the two chef's in the previous film (And it doesn't help either that the actor who played the chef who I found the most annoying out of the two in the first film, is actually playing the storage agent one who keeps moving his eyes around like mad, in hopes that you would get a laugh out of him), though to be fair I did get a laugh or two compared to the previous comic duo. And the Talent Agent that throws Santa in jail played by Robert Lesser, who is a very dull and forgettable villain (John Vernon as the villain in the first film is more memorable of a villain, compared to this guy).
Out of all characters in the film (including our lead) the best character and performance that tops them all is hands down Douglas Seale (who you may recognize his voice work as the Sultan in Disney's "Aladdin") as Santa Claus. Seale's portrayal of Santa Claus is so lovable, so kind hearted, so jolly, and so charming that he is without doubt the best thing that this film has to offer. There's not a single moment where I found myself being turned off by Seale's performance because he literally owns every single scene he’s in with the charm and grace that he brings to his presence! And believe me, I was trying to find something corny in his performance, but no matter how hard I try, I simply couldn't find myself being disenchanted by the personality that Seale gives to the character. Even when he's doing something silly like wearing cheap 3-D glasses, or making forced Santa puns, I still couldn't stop loving his on-screen performance. The film also gives him emotional music that's played every time he makes a heartfelt speech, which should come off as corny as the music in "Full House" since its completely obvious that the music is being shoehorned into those scenes to simply signal to the audience that this is a powerful moment, rather then having them realize that for themselves. But even with the contrived music that plays every time he makes a speech, he still never seizes to lose his whimsical Santa Claus charm, where that cheap use of music just somehow blends with his performance and speech ever so beautifully!
With this wonderful performance aside, there are many things that the writers give to Santa that really helps Seale convey the enchantment of the character such as having an instant connection with children; caring about everybody as if they were his own children; and making friends with almost everybody he meets. Seale and the writers even manage to make Santa a bit of a badass by having him make friends with prisoners that stand-up for him, and giving him a scene where he hits a guy in the face for making a Christmas movie that’s about a monster attacking an innocent family. That's pretty hardcore for a fictional character as jolly and loving as Santa. When it comes to magic involving Santa, most of it is played on gags that aren't laugh out loud funny, but still help bring the size and weight of the character. What I find really interesting about how the film depicts Santa is his situation of passing the torch to somebody else. He doesn't want to give up his job since he loves his it so much, but if he doesn’t give up the job he loves and fails to convince the guy he wants to take his place, he will be left with constant guilt for killing a part of Christmas that kids look forward to because of his selfishness. It's a tragic and harsh situation that you find yourself perfectly understanding his reasons, while you’re at the same time sympathizing with him and rooting for his determination to set things right in hopes that everything will go right in the end (which they do! I mean did you read the title for the film?). I don't know if I would go as far as to call this version of Santa the best since he doesn't have the deep voice, he's not fat or chubby, and never wears the red suit in person; but he is still indeed one of the best! As for the Christmas look and feel that the film carries, it's nothing spectacular, but it still looks nice. They did do a good job making a snowless state like Florida, look very Christmassy. The film's opening credits are also given a nice Christmas touch where we look at old illustrations of Santa by Haddon Sundblom for each piece of credit, as we hear a beautiful Christmas choir singing a medley of Christmas Carols.
"Ernest Saves Christmas" is a stupid movie that can get very corny and forced at times, but I will say that I think its more enjoyable then his TV Special, and film debut. Ernest may not be the actual focus of the film, but he's still a fun to watch. The humor in the film is hardly ever funny, but it’s still more entertaining and enjoyable than the humor was in the last film, which actually does provide a few occasional laughs. The supporting characters (aside from Santa) are nothing special, but are at least likable. And the Christmas look and feel that the film carries may not be the strongest, but it’s still satisfying. The main reason why I recommend this film is for Douglas Seale as Santa Claus because I seriously think that he is one of the best Santa's of all time for how loving and pleasant he is. While the film isn't good or a Holiday classic by any means (more of a Holiday guilty pleasure), it was indeed an entertaining watch that carried a few good things in it. I can't say that this is the best Ernest film yet, but I don't know how his later films and Specials are going to top it.
RATING 3/5
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