I loved this movie and the message it was sending. My guess is to why the writers had the Clean Sweep team lay into Ernest like they did was for us to pull for Ernest even harder. Which is, by no means, a hardship for me. I root for Ernest in every movie. I was extremely ticked off by the team mocking Ernest, calling him a 'dumb redneck' and 'whiter than white' or '150 pound Gilligan dodo looking bird'. It made me want to take that basketball and shove it so far up their butts until it popped out of their heads. All Ernest wanted was to be a part of the team. Of course, very reluctantly, they let him because, as always, Ernest takes the blame when things go wrong at the mall where they work cleaning after hours when, in fact, they were all to blame for playing basketball in the store. Ernest loses the first game for them when he accidentally knocks over a cart of basketballs, tripping their opponent, giving him a chance to beat them by one point when he took his two shots at the hoop. The Archangel of Basketball appears after everyone else leaves the locker room where they left Ernest by himself and miserable. Ernest is given magic shoes but warned not to misuse them. Which, he doesn't at first. But, eventually, all that attention goes to his head. In a way, I can't blame him for his inflated ego. Ernest has a crush on Erma who at first seems sweet until that slime-ball, Zimmel, promises her the winning lottery ticket if she strung along Ernest. Erma 'the gold digger' does because, of course, all she cares about is 'more money'. And she only likes Ernest because she thinks he will make a lot of money and would spend it on her. Ernest becomes such a great player that even Barry's son, Quincy, starts looking up to Ernest and downing his dad, which Ernest has a problem with. Quincy, in fact, stole a pair of the same shoes because he wanted to be like Ernest and have the edge. Either way, it seems Ernest can't win. He messes up; the team hates him. He wins; they love him. He becomes the center of attention and basically plays the game by himself; they hate him again. But, good 'ol Ernest begins acting like the same Ernest we know and love. He discards the shoes and sits on the bench. Zimmel and Erma try to persuade him to put the shoes back on and get out there and play. But, Ernest tells Zimmel to leave him alone. And when Erma asks him, "What about me?", he tells her that she wasn't who he thought she was and tells them both to get away and leave him alone. But when CJ gets fouled out, Ernest has to play and, finally, the Clean Sweep team admit that he was really a part of the team. With that encouragement, Ernest gets back on the court and, with seconds to go before the end of the game, scores the winning point. All in all, Ernest didn't really care about fame and fortune. He just wanted to be included and to be a part of something. All he ever wanted was just to have friends. Ernest may be simplistic and not really all that book smart but he really is a pure genius where it counts: his heart.

Although it was a Independent film (which started with the "Ernest" films made after 1991), "Slam Dunk Ernest" is still one of my favorite "Ernest" films (of course trailing the theatrical movies). In the movie, Ernest is being given a special pair of shoes given to him by the Archangel of Basketball (Played by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) that make him a great basketball player, and eventually a star. But in the process, Ernest becomes the arrogant kind of star, and eventually sees himself, and does the right thing to make up for it. Jim Varney does yet another solid job as nit wit Ernest P. Worrell, and the guys who played Ernest's basketball teammates were pretty good too. The movie overall is pretty good, and the best "Ernest" film made after "Ernest Scared Stupid".Although it doesn't measure up to the "Ernest" films that were in theaters ("Ernest Goes to Camp", "Ernest Saves Christmas", "Ernest Goes to Jail", and "Ernest Scared Stupid"), "Slam Dunk Ernest" is still a good "Ernest" movie. So check it out, you may like it.

Clearly, the straight to video route had a little effect on the production value of this movie, but it still proved to be the most interesting of the series. Ernest, with his 70s-style motif and impeccable ability to score at will, proved to be an unusual turn in the series. Kareem Abdul Jabbar made a great cameo. While this wasn't the best in the series, it still ranks as the third best, which isn't too bad.

Jim Varney IS funny in this film -- assuming you enjoy the sort of absurd slapstick that lies at the center of every Ernest movie. The problem is, whenever the camera wanders away from Varney's rubber-faced goofing, the movie starts to wander as well.The supporting cast does what it can (the men who play Ernest's after-work basketball teammates do especially well), but the story wanders, and the pacing is very slow at times. It's too "talky" at times to attract a kid audience, but not complex enough to hold an adult audience whenever the comedy quiets down. And there's the problem: the comedy quiets down too often, and when it does, the movie seems unsure of what it wants to do with itself. There's a cameo by Kareem Abdul Jabbar (an actor he is NOT!) and a rather bizarre about-face by the main female supporting character, which is never adequately explained, even by comedy-film standards.In the end, Varney's antics as the lovable goofball with the heart of gold and the brain of lead save this movie from being a complete washout -- but it's really no thanks to the script.In conclusion: Varney is still the best thing to happen to "lovable idiot" comedy since Lou Costello, but he succeeds in spite of this movie, not because of it. Better to rent "Ernest Goes To Jail" or one of the other early Ernest films, if you want to see just how much fun an Ernest movie can be.