BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

amee921 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.

mark.waltz 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.

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.

catmitchell 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.