Three out of ten stars is me being generous. Its taking me a long time to watch Encino Man, like I'm watching it in bits, not so as to absorb each scene and get the most out of my viewing, but rather I watch it in fits because it sucks to watch Encino Man. It sucks, and yet I am compelled to finish it. It's not a very long movie, I mean it's not some six hour epic, but Lord, it is a real challenge to get all the way through. I was alive and fully conscious when this movie first came out and it was ubiquitous through-out those years, yet I never saw all of the movie, some various element or agent of circumstance stopped me. Even now, when Encino Man is on Netflix and I am trying to watch it all the way through for God-knows-what-reason, I still can't finish it--I have twelve minutes left of movie to watch, longest f*cking twelve minutes of my life.

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.

Seriously though this movie is great and I have even been watching with my kids, they love it. It's a great thing when a movie is funny over and over. All characters are well played. Pauly Shore is a wonderful comedian playing a high school student with Brendan Frasier which is in full caveman mode in this movie. Just the funniest. I promise you will laugh at something in this. One part my 9 year old loved was when he is dancing in front of the TV near the beginning when he first melts from the ice. It is hilarious.I wish they had made a sequel even though I am not sure that could be as funny.

It took a pre-historic earthquake to bury him in ice, and it took the pre- cursor to the Northridge quake to unleash him from his frozen coffin. Brendan Fraser is at his zany best, putting Sean Astin and Pauly Shore to shame in this teen comedy that quarter of a century later now becomes a very guilty pleasure. The ideal of L.A. valley teenagers remains unchanged from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" days, stereotyping California teens as seemingly eternally high, more stoned than the man from the stone age. Fraser, aka George of the Jungle, really is a blast from the past, and this time, he's not coming out of a bomb shelter. "Some of us pump and some of us slump" is just one very clichéd piece of dialog, spoken by one of the bullies who tapes Astin to the school wall. Back when "selfies" was considered a dorky thing (with good reason), Astin takes one of the threesome, from a Polaroid no less, giving the predictable sight gag towards Fraser involving the flash.My teem years were a period of my life that I am glad to be way past, and in seeing this, I am glad they didn't involve Southern California trends as seen here. Fraser speaks little except to speak in a grunt phrases spoken to him, but he is an absolute comic gem. So I can say that there is a lot to be amused by, but it has the i.q. level of a blank c.d. case. Stereotypical uncool adults look on perplexed by Fraser's behavior, although Mariette Hartley makes for a pretty cool mom. All in all, not bad, but without Fraser, this wouldn't be going in any time capsule.