Encino Man (1992)

Why so much hype?

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

One thing Brendin Frazer can pull off better than anyone else is his Tarzan style yell. He did it here, he did it well in 'George of the jungle" while swinging those vines, and he even did it with his friends in "School ties", always in a good, non annoying way, where you knew he was just a cool guy having fun. Now Sean Astin and Pauly shore in this movie are not cool. They're highschool lo-sers, as Pauly Shore said it. Pauly Shore was a popular MTV personality back in the early 90s when this movie came out and his " ma-jor" speech style was his thing. Anyway, Pauly and Astin are digging a pool in the back yard, just wishing it would bring them prom dates and popularity. So far, they've been far from it. Getting harassed by the bully and ignored by the pretty girls including Robin (Megan Ward), Sean's crush. Robin and the bully are at first, going steady (the pretty girl and the bully are going steady at the beginning of most highschool movies). Then, Sean and Pauly dig up, bum-bum-bum-bum, the caveman! Actually, just a large ice cube with a body in it. How an ice cube has been able to stay just a few feet underground in 70 degree southern California weather for a hundred thousand years without melting is just a tad bit beyond me. Anyway, Sean and Pauly let it thaw for a day. A primitive, non speaking, filthy, yelling man starts running around making a mess and breaking things. Then Sean and Pauly clean him up and dress him, and he (Brenden) then ends up somehow looking and acting cooler than Sean and Pauly. They bring Brenden to school, and he slowly starts getting them more positive attention from kids, including the girls. Brendon even defends the bully from Sean. I know all of this seems quite unbelievable and totally unlikely, but this movie was not meant to have been taken seriously. Its supposed to be a quirky, fun joke of a film. The film does not completely escape bad scenes. One scene, during drivers Ed, Brenden is driving and makes the car tilt over and drive on both right side wheels for the longest time. Yeh. Then, there's a dumb scene in a bar with some drunks acting rowdy and the police busting it up, with everyone in the bar managing to escape getting arrested except the main characters. This movie lacks any ma-jor surprises. Do Sean and Pauly get their pool ready in time for the prom? Do they get prom dates with their desired girls? Does everyone come over to their pool after the prom and now find Astin and Shore cool? Does a bear s*** in the woods?

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.

This movie is one of my all time favorite comedies and is one of my favorite movies over all of all time. This movie might be hilarious for you, or it could absolutely horrible. What I mean is that some people might like this and some people might not. I just happen to be somebody that loves it. I can understand why people do not like this movie. They probably don't like it because of the story and the acting and the script and the fact that it just isn't realistic. But people like me love this movie because its funny and we think that it could be a believable story. I loved this movie when I was 4 when I first saw it and I am 13 today, and I still love it. I think that it is hilarious. I think that Pauly Shore was funny in this. This isn't like one of his bad movies that he makes all the time. This movie is funny. So, in the end, you might like it, like me, or you might hate it, like most people. I love this movie. It is funny. This was a good movie. 10/10.

I have loved California Man for a long, long time. Pauly Shore has got to be the favourite, and with his own added 'unique weasel' it just makes the film for me. It seems this is where Brendan Fraser started his usual 'big, dumb, lovable' characters, but still he plays it to perfection. Sean Astin is quite cute in it, but doesn't add that much to the film. My favourite scene has to be when Stoney and Link go to the Mountain and 'beat up' a guy in a panda costume. Classic.Of course there's a corny ending but it wouldn't be a teenage feel good movie otherwise. Do yourself a favour - watch this movie and have a right good laugh.