Also see Jim Varney: A Legacy of Laughter
Before Air Bud … before Space Jam … soared Air Ernest. Who better than Mr. Worrell to pair with five black janitorial technicians who daylight as city league b-ballers? Well, ANYONE actually, given the grim chain of disaster unleashed during a credit-sequence flashback when an adolescent Ernest (A.J. Bond) attempts an ill-advised 3-pointer and proves the blue-jeaned demolition man’s destructive powers are exponentially intensified on the hardwood. For this reason, Ernest’s mop bucket colleagues (led by Cylk Cozart) wisely exclude him from their coffee break pickup games, but somehow find themselves obligated to let him become the team mascot in a championship run sure to see the "Clean Sweep" team discovered by the NBA. Cue Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as "The Archangel of Basketball" who presents our wannabe playa with a pair of piezest sneakers that afford Varney the opportunity to explore a variety of silly walks, but more importantly, these flubber-esqe magic feet turn jersey number "negative zero" into a dunkin’ hero. In all, it’s disappointingly routine stuff with a noticeable lack of Jimbo’s typical high-energy schtick and amusing array of side characters. CineSchlockers will note Kareem’s brief scenes apparently forever grounded a film career that flew highest in Airplane!
Notables: Three YouKnowWhutIMean?s. Two pratfalls. Racking. Scalp signing. Gratuitous Bogart impression. Curled cobra mimicry. Multiple basketball montages. Orgasmic money talk.
Quotables: No love from the brothers, "You’re not just white. You’re whiter than white. You’re a redneck!" Ernie from the Block is undaunted, "Ah, the mens locker room. Tank of the titans. Temple of testosterone. I bet you guys are male bonding as we speak. Right arm! Out of state! Frozen!"
Time codes: Worrell’s first slam dunk (5:40). Why the big guy never removes his cap (13:15). Fan friendly refs to Ernest Goes to Camp‘s "Krader Construction" and "Kik-a-kee" (18:30, 49:45). Kareem finally joins the picture (23:55). Behold the world’s first haute couture redneck (1:04:00).