Movie Review of “Caveman”

The weather this past weekend wasn't the greatest and, since we really didn't have a whole lot of money anyway, we pretty much just stayed home Saturday and Sunday.

Even though we spent the majority of our time catching up on housework, I did have some free time. So, while my youngest daughter was napping and my wife and oldest daughter were playing a card game together, I decided to watch the 1981 movie Caveman.

This was not the first time I have seen this movie. However, prior to this past weekend, I hadn't seen the movie in about 10 years and really didn't remember a whole lot about it. And, to tell you the truth, after watching it this past weekend, I still don't remember a whole lot about it because it honestly wasn't that memorable of a movie.

To be fair, the movie, which stars Ringo Starr as a caveman who is expelled from one tribe and forms another tribe filled with misfits, did have some funny moments in it. I liked how the movie managed to have Starr's character discover fire, weapons and music. And, the fact none of the characters spoke anything but caveman gibberish throughout did give it a bit of a silent movie feel since most of the jokes were physical.

The problem I have with the movie is the comedy consists primarily of crude jokes and the characters trying to run from dinosaurs. There really is no attempt to change things up and mix in something a bit more witty and intelligent.

There are also a lot of jokes that might have been funny in the early 80s but just aren't as funny now. One of the best examples of this is Starr's character trying to have sex with an unconscious Lana (Barbara Bach) which, by today's standards, would be rape. And, there's nothing funny about rape.

The idea of a misfit tribe of caveman also wasn't something that managed to make this movie stand out because it was made roughly around the same time as other films with the same basic concept (Revenge of the Nerds comes to mind) that managed to be funnier.

In other words, when I was younger, this was probably a movie that I found somewhat funny. But, now that I'm older with a bit more sophisticated tastes, I really didn't think this movie was as entertaining as I originally remembered and, as a result of that, I don't think it is a film I would recommend.

My Grade: 2 stars out of a possible 5.