Along with In the Army!, this ranks as one of Pauly Shore's best movies, if there is such a thing. While the whole West Coast-meets- Midwest-culture-clash isn't anything new, this film proves to make the story a little more entertaining with the wild and unpredictable antics of a then fresh Shore. While the change in values probably would have gone in the other direction, the whole concept was rather entertaining. Not only was Shore's interaction with the family hilarious, it also had Carla Gugino and Tiffani- Amber Theissen (she'll always have the Amber in my book) in two ravishing and early roles. One of those films I have no problem watching when it is on TV.

Country girl Rebecca Warner (Carla Gugino) from South Dakota starts college in Los Angeles. Her parents (Lane Smith, Cindy Pickett) are shocked by the wild liberal atmosphere. Her father is especially concerned about the resident adviser Crawl (Pauly Shore) living across the hall. Crawl takes care of homesick Becca and they become best friends. Another shock for the family happens when Becca returns home for the Thanksgiving break with Crawl and a whole new look. Her boyfriend Travis tries to propose. She pushes Crawl to help but he comes up with a bad lie that they're already engaged.

Pauly Shore can either be fun or be very annoying. He certainly has many detractors. I think he's fun in this one more than anything annoying. He's very good at being a fish out of water. Most importantly, he's not a simple slacker. He tries to fit in which is endearing. The story is fine. Overall, there is more good than bad as long as one is not an automatic Pauly Shore hater.

Having gotten a taste of college life, a drastically changed farm girl returns home for Thanksgiving break with her best friend, a flamboyant party animal who is clearly a fish out of water in a small farm town.

Pauly Shore movies are a strange lot. They aren't good, they aren't bad. They can often be annoying, especially as the Shore shtick does not age well as time passes. You get some good supporting cast like Tiffani Thiessen and Lane Smith, which helps, but doesn't completely fix the problem.

And yet, like a car crash, somehow I am drawn to watch. I saw most of Shore's work in the 1990s, and for some reason am watching them again now (2016). They haven't gotten any better, but do sort of capture an aspect of the 90s -- particularly the "MTV 90s" -- that few other films completely attempt.