Pauly Shore is as hated as Carrot Top. Well, maybe not that hated, but kinda close to it. And that's pretty bad. But why is he so hated? Could it be he had one funny joketen years ago that he's been rehashing ever since? Could it be that the one joke wasn't real funny to begin with? Or could it just be put down to Biodome?Whatever it was, there was a time when Shore was funny. The hell you say, but I stand by that. In Encino Man, a boring film that opened our eyes to the vanilla essence of one Brendan Fraser, Pauly Shore's 'weasel' is the one watchable thing about it.
Okay, so you're all starting to get incredulous by now, I know the drill. How can he say Pauly Shore is not only funny, but watchable, blah blah. The simple fact is, he was and was. I saw this cat on a late night chat show in Australia one time sitting opposite Dannii Minogue (Kylie's sister) and a Dave Letterman impressionist (he knows who he is), and Shore was hysterical. Not because he was doing a 'bit' or a routine, but because he just had a blast. He talked shit, he poured a bucketload of it on Mingoue as she preened and pretended she was important, and dude, he killed. He was that kind of funny you only usually get when you're trying a new drug or when you've just insulted someone beautifully in front of a whole group of people. That nastay kind of funny that makes you sit back and just think "that... was fucking... funny."
So back to Encino Man. Caveman thaws in suburban kid's swimming pool, runs amuck, becomes freind, disguised as Bolivian exchange student, becomes coolest kid in school, jocks pick on him but he wins through, geeky kid who found him gets jealous, caveman ditched, Pauly Shore character injects moments of levity amidst the moments of boredom.
Stupid? Yes. Moronic? Sure, okay. Not worth your money? I suppose.But Pauly Shore's finest hour, and dammit, doesn't that mean something in this day and age?
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