Ernest Goes to Africa is a 1997 comedy film

Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 written and directed by John R. Cherry III

John R. Cherry III

John R. Cherry III is an American film director and screenwriter, most notable for directing virtually every movie starring Jim Varney as Ernest P. Worrell. He based the character on a man who worked for his dad who thought that he knew everything but didn't know anything...

. It stars Jim Varney

Jim Varney

James Albert "Jim" Varney, Jr. was an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, writer, voice artist, and comedian, best known for his role as Ernest P...

, and is the ninth film to feature the character of Ernest P. Worrell

Ernest P. Worrell

Ernest P. Worrell is a fictional character most principally portrayed by the late American actor Jim Varney in a series of television commercials, and later in a television series as well as a series of feature films. Ernest was created by the Nashville advertising agency Carden and Cherry and was...

. It was re-released October 31, 2006 by Mill Creek Entertainment

Mill Creek Entertainment

Mill Creek Entertainment is a home entertainment company that manufactures movie and television DVD compilation box sets at "value" prices. Nashville's Amity Entertainment is an affiliate to Mill Creek...

 as part of the DVD box sets Ultimate Ernest and Essential Ernest Collection with The Ernest Film Festival also known as Ernest's Greatest Hits Volume 1 (1986) and Ernest's Greatest Hits Volume 2 (1992) which were originally released on VHS. In the movie, Deacon County, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 resident Ernest unknowingly comes into the possession of some stolen jewels and is kidnapped and brought to Africa where he must rescue the woman he loves. The film was shot entirely in Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

, South Africa.

Plot

Ernest P. Worrell (Varney) has been fired from his job due to totaling a lady's car. He goes to a local restaurant and asks his crush, Rene Loomis (Kash) to go on a date with him. He is turned down by her because she wants to date somebody more adventurous. Ernest decided to buy her a gift to show that he really cares for her. He goes to a flea market where he buys 2 jewels unaware that they are the "Eyes of Igoli" stolen from the Sinkatutu tribe in Africa by a runaway man named Mr. Rabhas who is being chased by 2 henchmen of Prince Kazim. He is cornered by the men but rescued by a man named Thompson (Bartlett) and his strong African bodyguard, Bazu. Threatening to kill him if he doesn't tell so he can steal them himself, Rabhas reveals where he stashed the Eyes of Igoli. Thompson walks away and Bazu takes a bag of deadly snakes and dumps it on Rabhas, leaving him to die. Meanwhile, Ernest creates a yo-yo made of the Eyes of Igoli. He does his around-the-world and crashes his fish's tank. He puts him in the sink but he flows down the drain. Meanwhile, Thompson eventually finds out that Ernest took the Eyes of Igoli. He spies on him at the restaurant Rene works in. Ernest gives Rene the yo-yo only to be called a small-town ordinary schmoe by her. Meanwhile, the bad guys kidnap Rene and Ernest come to save her after a phone call. Thompson kidnaps him too when he gets there and puts them on a flight to Africa. After shutting Rene up in a room with Bazu, an old woman named Auntie Nelda comes in and explains to Bazu about how her husband died. She then throws ashes in his face and rescues Rene, knowing that it is Ernest. They escape in a golf cart and encounter many obstacles from getting simple firewood to Ernest disguising as a girl and getting kissed by the prince to striking down the bad guys with ostrich eggs. Meanwhile, Thompson and Bazu look for Ernest and Rene. They walk down the river and encounter the Sinkatutu tribe who wants to eat them for lunch. Ernest empties his pockets when they tell him to and yo-yos the yo-yo one last time impressing the tribe, especially the Sinkatutu chief. He does tricks which easily turns the tribe to like them. Just as soon as the Chief is about to give him a "booster surgery", Thompson comes along by himself. He had kicked Bazu out. He suddenly blames Ernest of stealing the eyes. Thompson requests a battle of truth. Ernest has to fight Thompson in order to save Rene from becoming cooked...literally! When Ernest hears the challenge he states "On second thought, I think I might have the booster." Thompson changes into a black warrior suit and pulls out his weapons. Ernest does the same, only his are little items. Yet, he successfully fights Thompson using them. All of a sudden, Thompson punches Ernest and knocks him out. But Ernest awakens and hears Rene calling him to use his yo-yo. Ernest puts his fighting skills and yo-yo skills together and he does an around the world which knocks Thompson out cold and breaks the Yo-yo to reveal the Eyes of Igoli. The tribe rushes toward them as Rene compliments Ernest on how he's her "Knight in Shining Armor". A few weeks later, Ernest and Rene are about to go on a date. Ernest even paints an Ostrich egg and gives it to her as a gift. Sadly, she tells Ernest that the date is off because he's too adventurous for her. Ernest tells Rene he recalls her calling him an ordinary Schmoe. Rene tells him not to let anyone call him an "ordinary Schmoe" because she thinks he is a dynamic schmoe. Ernest makes a speech on how he is bold and adventurous and then, in conclusion, puts on his hat heroically, forgetting he had set it on the table and put the ostrich egg in it! His only response is "Eeee-heh-hew! Ew! Ew!

Cast

• Jim Varney
  Jim Varney
  James Albert "Jim" Varney, Jr. was an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, writer, voice artist, and comedian, best known for his role as Ernest P...
  
   as Ernest P. Worrell
  Ernest P. Worrell
  Ernest P. Worrell is a fictional character most principally portrayed by the late American actor Jim Varney in a series of television commercials, and later in a television series as well as a series of feature films. Ernest was created by the Nashville advertising agency Carden and Cherry and was...
  
  , Hey-Yu, Auntie Nelda,African woman dancer
• Linda Kash
  Linda Kash
  Linda Kash is a Canadian actress.An alumna of Second City, she played Trudy Weissman in the 1998 Jean Smart sit-com, Style & Substance...
  
   as Rene Loomis
• Jamie Bartlett
  Jamie Bartlett
  Jamie Bartlett is a South African actor best known for his role as the shady Mike O'Reilly on the soap opera television series Isidingo aired on the SABC 3 television channel and Crawford in Prey.-Career:...
  
  as Mr. Thompson
• Claire Marshall as Betty, Rene's serving mate
• Washington Xisolo as Sinkatutu Chief
• Robert Whitehead as Prince Kazim
• Zane Meas as Jameen
• Charles Pillai as Kareem