Hello and welcome, I am finally here to review the next Ernest movie, or more accurately, the first actual Ernest movie. The last time we looked at the beloved mechanic, which was 2 years ago, was with “Dr. Otto”. Now “Dr. Otto” can barely be considered an Ernest movie considering that Ernest only makes a short appearance at the very end. Just to clarify the release date for “Dr. Otto” is a little obscure, if I was going by the video release date “Dr.Otto” would have been 1992 after “Ernest Goes to Camp”, but I’m choosing to go by the theatrical release date 1985 even though there was no theatrical release that we know of. Now with that out of the way let’s kick off Fall with a movie about a traditional Summer activity that did not happen this year.
Background
This movie was released in 1987 and was directed by John Cherry. There is not much other information on the movie, but one interesting thing is, the actor that played the Chief in the movie, Iron Eyes Cody, is also known to play several other Native American parts. Throughout his life, he claimed to be of Native American descent, but after his death, however, he was revealed to be Italian, with no Native American blood in him. Is it just me or does knowing this fact make the movie not age well?
Plot
Ernest is a maintenance guy at a summer camp, and he dreams of being a camp counselor. The camp is chosen to get some kids from a reform school. The counselor that was assigned to these kids ended up breaking his leg, putting him out of commission for the summer. Ernest is given the job! That’s not all, an evil mining company wants the land that the camp is on, and will stop at nothing to get it. To thicken the plot, the camp is located on an ancient Native American ritual site. On a side note, there is a minor subplot with the two camp chefs trying to make a dish called “Eggs Erroneous.”
Opinion
Let’s begin with the good stuff, the acting is pretty good throughout the movie, the jokes for the most part hit their mark, and there is not much to say on the technical end. Now with all that said, the plot of the evil businessman wanting the land has been overdone; don’t get me wrong, overdone plots are fine if used with a fresh idea (if you go by the “hero's journey” theory there is only one plot ),unfortunately there is nothing unique about this plot. The subplot, making “Eggs Erroneous”, while funny at times does not add anything to the movie and could be cut out without taking anything away from the story. Also, in my opinion the constant use of the word “indian” makes the movie dated and makes me feel slightly uncomfortable at times.
Overall I give Ernest Goes to Camp 3 out of 5 stars. About average.
Thank you all for reading this, I hope to have my review of the next Ernest movie before this post turns three.
Goodnight and Bee Happy!™
Mr.Bee
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