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.
