gavin6942 When they find a frozen caveman (Brendan Fraser) in their back yard, two high school outcasts thaw him and introduce him to modern life while he in turn gets them to actually enjoy life.Pauly Shore made some okay movies and some bad movies. This one, along with "Bio-Dome", is an okay movie, or maybe even good. Then it starts going downhill from "Son-in-Law" to "Jury Duty" and we try to forget everything else. Shore was sort of a one-note joke, and because he was not able to grow beyond that, he kind of faded away.This film works well because Fraser captures the caveman thing really well, but even more so it is Sean Astin who saves the day. By playing the straight man, he keeps the Fraser-Shore antics grounded, and his role should not be understated.

Geeky Randy California teens Astin and Shore want to build a pool as a way to gain popularity before the end of their senior year and find caveman Fraser buried beneath the soil in which they're digging their pool on. They introduce and groom him into the modern life of a Cali teen; and when everything seems go to as planned, the free-spirited caveman who's helping the teens build popularity, is getting a bit too popular. Fraser is a pleasure to watch, and Pauly Shore is… well, Paul Shore--this could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your interest for watching the film. Where the film falls short is with Astin as Dave; who's a vain, shallow and selfish little punk, striving to have his own page in the yearbook… no wonder you're unpopular, Dave. Dave's tendencies of a sociopath become even more evident when he attempts to abandon the caveman because the girl who Dave likes has a crush on the caveman. It's not an overall unpleasant film, but still incredibly frustrating when one of your protagonists is extremely unlikable.** (out of four)

Karl Self I expected the usual stoner-gross-out-high-school-comedy and had also heard that Pauly Shore was a comedic one-trick-pony (I'd read about all those Razzies he had been awarded). Also, the premise of high-school kids finding a thawed-up "cro-magnon" man and becoming friends with him didn't bide well, so I kind of watched this out of completism and deep-rooted cinematic masochism. Turns out I was way off the mark. "Encino Man" is thoroughly enjoyable, and one of the best movies of its genre. And Pauly Shore is my god now, he really made this movie. Well, he may be a one-trick-comedian, but at least at he's the godfather of this one trick. The stoner-surfer-dude has been done ad nauseam in high-school comedies, but Pauly Shore is the stoner-surfer-dude to rule all other stoner-surfer-dudes. His figure is not just funny and dude-ish, but also eccentric and frail (almost a bit camp). When I read that he comes from a family of comedians, I wasn't surprised. I see a lot of comedic and dramatic talent in him, and it's a shame that he seems to have fallen out of favour recently.Anyway, the movie. Luckily, the pretty goofy plot doesn't put it in harm's way. Two likable social dropouts find a stone age survivor in their back yard, and decide to smuggle him into their school in order to heighten their own peer standing. This goes terribly awry when the hunky pre-human becomes a hit with the ladies. Man seems to be set in atavistic struggle against pre-human (and stoner dude), but luckily they eventually find their moral bearings: the humans learn the benefits of sticking together from their thawed-out friend, and the cro-magnon learns to go "halfies" on his microwave burrito.Like I said, I really enjoyed Pauly Shore here. He made this movie. The other actors are also good, there's great dialogue, and the babes are babe-alicious. I also enjoyed the fact that the underdogs were the protagonists here.To give you a ballpark comparison, it's au pair with Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Yes, it's that good, buuuh-dy.

joeG_Delux As I was an elementary student when this movie first came out, I had no concept of how awful it really was. Seeing it now on TBS in 2006... It is the most insulting movie in history. Pauly Shore should never have been permitted to make it past childhood and more-over he is the cause of all that is wrong with the early 90s. Also for those of you who like Lord of the Rings, you will never see Samwise the same way again after this movie. There are certain Ed Wood movies that have been given the title of worst movie of all time... but those opinions are wrong. Encino Man is far worse than stock footage and Lugosi on morphine. This is without question the worst thing that ever happened and should not be viewed by anyone from any decade. You will lose more brain cells here than you might in a whole week of binge drinking. Stay Away. (thank you TBS for providing the inspiration to spend my time bashing this horror film, and may your ratings take a dive because of it.)