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It quickly becomes clear that the two are best friends with a strong history together. Unfortunately they do not have many other friends. The two actors have a great chemistry together and are very believable as best friends. The stark differences in their personalities are entertaining as Astin plays the straight man to Shore’s screwball persona.

Of course it wouldn’t be a good high school movie if at least one of the main characters wasn’t on a quest to obtain the teenage Holy Grail; sex. And that’s where Dave comes in. He’s in love with Robyn, one of the popular girls in school. The two of them used to be friends until she reached “babehood.” Unfortunately, because of cruel high school rules, she ditched him but he’s still holding on to the hope of romance. And typical of high school movies, our heroes need someone to make their lives miserable. That’s where Matt, Robyn’s boyfriend, steps in. (Michael DeLuise) The boys are already unpopular but Dave makes things worse by unabashedly, and repeatedly, going after Robyn. Of course Matt doesn’t take kindly to this and does what bullies do; he beats them up.

But like most of us fellow nerds, Dave sees another side of himself and he’s desperate to make other people see it too. He hopes to achieve high school immortality by hosting the senior prom after party. Dave’s plan is to build a pool in a backyard to lure all of his classmates there for the party because once Robyn sees his pool she’ll undoubtedly fall in love with him. (Hey, we’ve all had crazy plans right?)

Okay, to be fair he really thinks that she is in love with him and that the only reason she doesn’t date him is because he’s unpopular. So his plan is show to show Robyn that he’s popular too. He thinks this way she’ll stop being embarrassed to be in a relationship with him. So in a weird way, Encino Man can be seen as an adaptation of Great Expectations…right?

But one day, as Dave and Stoney are digging a hole that is supposed to be the pool in Dave’s back yard they find a giant block of ice underground. In that giant block of ice is a frozen caveman. (Fraser) They put him in the garage and head to school. By the time they return, the ice block has melted and the caveman is set loose upon Dave’s house. Naturally some fish out of water misunderstandings play out but Dave and Stoney manage to calm the caveman down pretty quickly. (A lighter does the trick) They decide to clean the caveman up and rename him Link. Yes, like the missing link.

It doesn’t take long for the trio to learn how to communicate with one another. And they not only manage to convince Dave’s parents that Link is an Estonian exchange student, but they also get him enrolled in their high school. Link’s behavior and nonchalant attitude make him a big hit at the school and Dave and Stoney ride his popularity coattails. Things go smoothly for a while and Dave even manages to get closer to Robyn. But as is expected, it’s only a matter of time before things go sour.

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