- Rating:


- Genre: Comedy
- Movie Type: Sci-Fi Comedy, Teen Movie
- Themes: Fish Out of Water, Time Sleepers, Assumed Identities
- Director: Les Mayfield
- Main Cast: Sean Astin, Pauly Shore, Brendan Fraser, Mariette Hartley, Richard Masur, Megan Ward, Rick Ducommun, Rose McGowan, Robin Tunney
- Release Year: 1992
- Country: US
- Run Time: 88 minutes
- MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
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 girlfriend Robyn (Megan Ward) left him for thick-headed jock Matt (Michael DeLuise). Hoping to boost his low status in the High School pecking order, Dave wants to put in a swimming pool at his family's home for a massive post-prom party. While Dave and Stoney are digging the pit, an earthquake strikes that unearths a frozen caveman (
Brendan Fraser). To Dave and Stoney's surprise, the frozen Neanderthal soon comes to life, and after a bath, a shave, and a new set of clothes, the boys are passing off their dim-witted-but-friendly companion "Link" as an exchange student from Estonia. Link soon becomes the most popular guy at school, and Dave is determined to use Link's social success as a way to win back Robyn and foil Matt. Encino Man marked the directorial debut of Les Mayfield, who previously produced the critically acclaimed documentary
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide