| Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: May 22, 1992 |
Starring:
Brendan Fraser, Dalton James, Jonathan Ke Quan, Megan Ward, Michael DeLuise, Patrick Van Horn, Pauly Shore, Rick Ducommun, Robin Tunney, Sean Astin
Summary:
(Also known as "California Man") When they find a frozen caveman 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.
Watch Now
| Buy on |
|
| Stream On |
|
| Stream On |
|
| Stream On |
|
Encino Man is enormously funny, hip and gross without ever being vulgar. [22 May 1992, p.12]
Perhaps if Encino Man boasted a looser cannon than block-jawed newcomer Fraser or gave more focus to the sleepily funny Shore, who comes across like Mork from Woodstock by way of the Valley, it would overcome first-time feature director Les Mayfield's timid, by-the-numbers approach. [22 May 1992, p.52]
The worst thing about Encino Man is that it lacks the blockhead convictions of its predecessors, movies that at least hewed to the (il)logic of their heroes' know-nothingness -- reveled in that condition, in fact. In Encino Man, Link winds up teaching everyone Valuable Life Lessons, which has the unsettling effect of making the movie seem even dumber than it is. If such a thing is possible. Dude. [23 May 1992, p.E4]
This one, a comic vacuum, is close to amateurish. [22 May 1992, p.32]
Encino Man is so puerile and sophomoric that, by comparison, ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' is ''Our Town,'' and ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' is ''Gulliver's Travels.'' For that matter, Pauly Shore makes Wayne and Garth, the two cable TV rec-room rockers of ''Wayne's World'' fame, seem like they belong at the Algonquin Hotel round table. [22 May 1992, p.D3]
Jun 17, 2022
Although Encino Man is a dud of a movie, we can all say it's sorta a rip-off to the first Bill & Ted movie, upset that one is actually better.
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
Mar 17, 2023
4.0
It is kind of a dud but it is rather fun. I feel it is content just being a dumb movie.
It is kind of a dud but it is rather fun. I feel it is content just being a dumb movie.
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
More From Metacritic
Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
More From Encino Man