Movie remakes of TV shows have been notoriously failing miserably for some time (but they keep getting made anyway, for whatever reason), so it was inevitable that somebody would start churning out these remakes based on classic cartoons. An early victim was "The Flintstones," a failed experiment that should have told them not to do any more of these.<br /><br />Quite simply, this movie stinks like a pile of dinosaur droppings.<br /><br />The original cartoon poked innocent fun at mainstream America, creatively clothing it with prehistoric costumes and primitive "technology," focusing on an everyday family and putting them in wild situations. Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty were all likable, and we laughed at Fred's ridiculous schemes and the chaotic outcomes.<br /><br />The spirit of the cartoon is non-existent here. The characters just argue, screw up, argue some more, screw up some more. People lie, cheat, and back stab. Everyone is boorish and mean; and just make you angry. The script goes nowhere, in story or comedy. Jokes don't work--come to think of it, were there any jokes even in this thing? Or any comedy at all? Wait: One (and only one) thing was funny--Rosie O'Donnell had the Betty Rubble snicker down. That's it.<br /><br />John Goodman, Rick Moranis, and Elizabeth Perkins (all normally good comic actors) seem lost in this primeval slop. As for some other actors in the cast, they were so obnoxious I was hoping a pterodactyl would sweep them up and toss them into a tar pit somewhere.<br /><br />If Early Man was like this, no wonder Neanderthals went extinct.