Encino Man

Encino Man (1992)

  • 16% of critics liked it
    (31 reviews)

  • 58% of users liked it
    (114,465 ratings)

A clueless caveman meets his intellectual match in the form of Pauly Shore in this teen-oriented comedy. Dave Morgan (Sean Astin) is a high school student in Encino, California, where he spends most of his time with his dazed-and-confused buddy Stoney Brown (Shore) and tries to figure out why his… More

PG, 1 hr. 28 min.
Directed By
Les Mayfield
Genres
Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy
In Theaters
May 22, 1992 Wide
On DVD
May 15, 2001

Critic Reviews

  • Lawrence Cohn, Variety

    Low-budget quickie is insulting even within its own no-effort parameters.

  • Caryn James, New York Times

    The real question is whether Dave and Stoney and Link are worthy heirs to Bill and Ted or Wayne and Garth. Not really.

  • Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

    God help us all.

  • Desson Thomson, Washington Post

    Encino Man saves its worst for last, especially with life lessons about Being Yourself.

  • Hal Hinson, Washington Post

    The kind of movie that gives evolution a bad name.

Read all 12 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Unknown H


    Honestly, one of my fave movies of all time, although I always knew it as California Man. A very young cast of actors who became more famous than I am sure any of them thought they would be when cast in this little known gem, I genuinely enjoy the chemistry between the three main… More

  • Jeff "


    The first cinematic outing by Pauly Shore is a half decent comedy. Though fun, and comical at times, Encino Man is not a great film. I see it as an a borderline effort in the genre, and one that can actually be quite forgotten. Encino Man gave us the taste of Pauly Shore, and what was… More

  • AJ V


    Another stupid missing link movie with some of the worst big name actors of the 90s. I couldn't hardly stand to watch this movie, it's so bad. It's not even funny.

  • MisterYoda ?


    "Encino Man" is just an all around fun, silly movie with some good comedy and numerous quotable lines. The story behind "Encino Man" is very simple, it's about two friends that find a frozen caveman in their backyard while trying to dig a pool...then the… More

  • Anthony L


    I remember seeing this in the cinema, it was called California Man over here though. It?s a fun slice of early 90?s America youth culture. It wasn?t really like that, just in film, although some of the hair cuts are familiar!

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Cast

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