Some movies are made to challenge the mind. Others are made to tug at the heartstrings. And then there's Encino Man, a 1992 comedy built around the brilliant scientific premise that digging a frozen caveman out of your backyard and thawing him in your garage is a perfectly reasonable way to improve your social life.
Starring Sean Astin, Brendan Fraser, and Pauly Shore, this early-'90s comedy is a time capsule of questionable fashion, teenage desperation, and jokes that probably seemed hilarious during the Bush administration.
The story follows Dave (Astin), a high school student desperate to become popular before graduation. His best friend Stoney (Shore) is an enthusiastic walking collection of bad ideas, which makes him either the perfect companion or the worst possible person to trust with anything involving science. While digging a swimming pool in Dave's backyard, they discover a frozen prehistoric man buried in the ground. Naturally, instead of calling scientists, the police, or literally anyone with a functioning brain, they decide to thaw him out.
Enter Link (Fraser), a caveman who wakes up in the modern world with absolutely no idea what is happening. Dave and Stoney introduce him to contemporary society, including television, fast food, shopping malls, and high school. Apparently, adapting to thousands of years of human development is easier than passing chemistry.
Brendan Fraser is easily the movie's biggest asset. He plays Link with an entertaining combination of innocence, physical comedy, and genuine charm. Fraser manages to make the character likable without turning him into a complete cartoon. Looking back, it's also fascinating to see one of Hollywood's future leading men playing a prehistoric teenager who has apparently never encountered deodorant.
Pauly Shore is another story. His character Stoney is basically a human sound effect, delivering an endless supply of bizarre expressions, exaggerated reactions, and that unmistakable Valley-guy vocabulary. You either find him hilarious or want to stuff him back into the glacier. There isn't much middle ground.
Sean Astin provides the relatively normal center of the movie, playing the awkward teenager whose plan to become popular somehow involves introducing a caveman to the student body. Mariette Hartley, Megan Ward, and Robin Tunney round out the cast, although the movie is primarily interested in the increasingly ridiculous adventures of its three central characters.
The comedy is broad, predictable, and occasionally spectacularly stupid. The high school popularity subplot is about as deep as a puddle, while the jokes rely heavily on the contrast between prehistoric behavior and modern teenage culture. Some of the humor has aged better than others, and a few moments feel like they were written after someone discovered the word "dude" and decided it deserved an entire screenplay.
Still, Encino Man has a certain charm. The early-'90s atmosphere is everywhere, from the clothing and hairstyles to the music and general attitude. It's a reminder of a time when teenage comedies didn't need complicated plots, cinematic universes, or characters explaining every joke. Sometimes all you needed was a frozen caveman and a friend who couldn't stop saying "buuuuddy."
The movie isn't particularly sophisticated, but it knows exactly what it is. Fraser delivers a memorable performance, Astin keeps the story grounded, and Shore provides enough absurdity to power a small amusement park.
Final Verdict: 6.5/10
Encino Man is gloriously ridiculous early-'90s comedy. It isn't going to change your life, expand your understanding of human history, or make you reconsider the mysteries of existence. But it might make you laugh, and that's more than can be said for plenty of movies that take themselves much more seriously. Just don't start digging up your backyard looking for a sequel.
Starring Sean Astin, Brendan Fraser, and Pauly Shore, this early-'90s comedy is a time capsule of questionable fashion, teenage desperation, and jokes that probably seemed hilarious during the Bush administration.
The story follows Dave (Astin), a high school student desperate to become popular before graduation. His best friend Stoney (Shore) is an enthusiastic walking collection of bad ideas, which makes him either the perfect companion or the worst possible person to trust with anything involving science. While digging a swimming pool in Dave's backyard, they discover a frozen prehistoric man buried in the ground. Naturally, instead of calling scientists, the police, or literally anyone with a functioning brain, they decide to thaw him out.
Enter Link (Fraser), a caveman who wakes up in the modern world with absolutely no idea what is happening. Dave and Stoney introduce him to contemporary society, including television, fast food, shopping malls, and high school. Apparently, adapting to thousands of years of human development is easier than passing chemistry.
Brendan Fraser is easily the movie's biggest asset. He plays Link with an entertaining combination of innocence, physical comedy, and genuine charm. Fraser manages to make the character likable without turning him into a complete cartoon. Looking back, it's also fascinating to see one of Hollywood's future leading men playing a prehistoric teenager who has apparently never encountered deodorant.
Pauly Shore is another story. His character Stoney is basically a human sound effect, delivering an endless supply of bizarre expressions, exaggerated reactions, and that unmistakable Valley-guy vocabulary. You either find him hilarious or want to stuff him back into the glacier. There isn't much middle ground.
Sean Astin provides the relatively normal center of the movie, playing the awkward teenager whose plan to become popular somehow involves introducing a caveman to the student body. Mariette Hartley, Megan Ward, and Robin Tunney round out the cast, although the movie is primarily interested in the increasingly ridiculous adventures of its three central characters.
The comedy is broad, predictable, and occasionally spectacularly stupid. The high school popularity subplot is about as deep as a puddle, while the jokes rely heavily on the contrast between prehistoric behavior and modern teenage culture. Some of the humor has aged better than others, and a few moments feel like they were written after someone discovered the word "dude" and decided it deserved an entire screenplay.
Still, Encino Man has a certain charm. The early-'90s atmosphere is everywhere, from the clothing and hairstyles to the music and general attitude. It's a reminder of a time when teenage comedies didn't need complicated plots, cinematic universes, or characters explaining every joke. Sometimes all you needed was a frozen caveman and a friend who couldn't stop saying "buuuuddy."
The movie isn't particularly sophisticated, but it knows exactly what it is. Fraser delivers a memorable performance, Astin keeps the story grounded, and Shore provides enough absurdity to power a small amusement park.
Final Verdict: 6.5/10
Encino Man is gloriously ridiculous early-'90s comedy. It isn't going to change your life, expand your understanding of human history, or make you reconsider the mysteries of existence. But it might make you laugh, and that's more than can be said for plenty of movies that take themselves much more seriously. Just don't start digging up your backyard looking for a sequel.
Review posted
November 10, 2026