Brendan Fraser's clashing neon plaid wardrobe and Pauly Shore's pink mesh sweater are two of biggest eyesores to ever blemish the silver screen. The costumes in the film are garish, mismatched attempts at capturing the hip youth look. "Encino Man" is a parade of everything regrettable from the final decade of the 20th century.
If you ever find yourself pining for all things 1990s, this movie will remind you why we left all that behind. "Encino Man" functions best as an anti-nostalgia film. And of course there is a choreographed dance number at the prom, because it what would a generic comedy be without a choreographed dance number? There is a halfhearted showdown with a bully character, but that too ends in the same lamebrain slapstick that comprises every other gag in the film. Eventually the movie just stops, without much of a climax.
Try to stifle your laughter as Link fails to understand how a modern convenience works, followed by some form of slapstick joke. Wacky hijinks ensue for a majority of the second and third acts as Link fumbles his way through high school and other zany aspects of modern life, repeating the same joke over and over. Fox's lycanthropy in "Teen Wolf", the presence of a caveman in Dave and Stoney's company inexplicably increases the duo's popularity in school.
The two twentysomething teens thaw out the caveman (played with embarrassingly dogged commitment by Brendan Fraser), dub him "Link", and decide to integrate him into the local high school. High school students Dave and Stoney (Sean Astin and Pauly Shore, both looking far too old to be playing teenagers) discover a frozen caveman while digging the foundation for a swimming pool in Dave's backyard. The plot of "Encino Man" is standard fish-out-of-water comedy fare.