The Ernest films are pretty much all the same: amiable, clunky, dumb, with an inspired moment every half hour or so. This is the exception. Same writers, same production company, but for some reason they decided to forget about plausibility and go straight for surrealism -- and the result is one of the funniest movies ever made. There's a story of sorts (lots of people chasing a revolutionary war cannon purported to contain the Crown Jewels of England), and a moral of sorts (don't be afraid to risk), but they're just scaffolding for the gags and shtick. The script abounds in throwaway lines that have no relation to anything else ("I haven't seen anything like this since the Bay of Pigs"), scraps of ridiculous dialogue (the history professor sees Ernest with a possibly valuable artifact: "Where did you get that?" "France." "Where in France?" "Outside Paris"), and all sorts of off-the-wall bits (the professor doing Elvis, the Mighty Workboy song). Jim Varney does a few of his standard issue klutzy-Ernest bits, but they just set the real humor in higher relief. Plus, the supporting cast is great: Tom Butler as the villain, alternately sadistic and zoned-out ("Yes...but many men died"); Ron James as the nebbishy professor ("Herpetology is not my field"); and the magnificent Linda Kash, stealing the picture as the professor's domineering wife ("Really hate that tie, dear. Really do.") I've seen this movie maybe ten times, and it gets stranger and funnier every time. If you're expecting something that makes sense, you'll be disappointed, but if you just sit back and watch the weirdness, you're in for a comic classic. 10 out of 10, no hesitation.