Knowhutimean? Hey Vern, It's My Family Album

I caught this show by accident the night it aired on television and taped it. It is hilarious, and Jim Varney was at his comedic best. If it is available on video and you are a Jim Varney fan, I highly recommend this one.

Jim Varney plays several characters in this film. Each character has the same goofiness, yet is distinct in very funny ways. I believe this was probably the basis for his 'Vern' characters in his later works. I was sad to see him pass away. Even though I didn't care for the "Earest" series of movies that much, I think this was a reflection on the writers and not the actor.

Even if you think the Ernest movies are stupid, this movie is much more a showcase of Jim Varney's characterization talent. He's got a rubber-band voice and a face that moves in every possible direction, and each scene in this movie takes Ernest's seed of an idea in some really interesting directions. It was really nice seeing a movie where whoever has copyright control over the Ernest character finally said, "Okay Jim, why don't you go nuts," which is basically what happens here: just a string of scenes about Ernest's relatives or ancestors where Jim Varney plays basically everybody. Definitely worth renting on a Friday night.

Although not a great example of cohesive film making, this film is a great example of what can be done when fun is included in the making of a piece of entertainment. This is also a great platform for Jim Varney's great talent for range and voices. He plays almost every character, and it is great fun to watch him go from the bumbling Ernest to Uncle Lloyd, the meanest man in the world, to the dozen or so characters he does as Corporal Davey Worrell. Come on, it's just for fun. If you find it, rent it, and prepare to belly laugh. Jim Varney will be missed. We need more of that silliness in Hollywood today.

The various skits are all Jim Varney. I have to admit that the production is pretty low in quality, but this doesn't stop Varney from having a good time. When he's a gambler he turns his head and his cigar pokes the southern belle in the cheek and we hear the thing singe her, its hilarious. When he reads from the telephone book as if its the Bible there is seldom anything so crazy. He tells his son, "Mistake" that he's gonna read from the big book, 1st Condiminiums...

When he is Pop in the last skit, there is no doubt but that he is a comic genius who can just pull funny stuff from nowhere. "You know what's wrong with that thing? That strings too long. It takes too long for that ball to go from here to there... or maybe that paddles too small, I don't know." I wish he were still around simply so he could be alive, second so he could produce more frenetic crap like this. Its just plain fun. Enjoy.

Back in my single days, my roommates and I had every line memorized from the skit where he portrayed every single character in a frontier standoff between the occupants of a fort and the dreaded "Beige foot"

His true gift was mimicry; in that one skit he portrayed every conceivable war movie stereotype; John Wayne, Walter Brennan, a British officer, an Irish soldier, "Cookie" the fort's cook, and an assortment of others. In one of his later movies, Earnest Goes to Jail, he slips into the roll of Sylvester Stallone and then James Mason w/o missing a beat. He just had an amazing gift. The sad part is most people just think of him as the bumbling kid movie star

We'll miss you big guy....