Krippendorf's Tribe (1998)

This outrageous comedy stars Richard Dreyfuss (MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS) and sexy Jenna Elfman (TV's DHARMA AND GREG), who discover that primitive culture is as close as your own backyard! Instead of documenting a previously unknown trible in New Guinea, Professor James Krippendorf (Dreyfuss) has blown the last two years ... and all his grant money ... rearing his out-of-control kids! Desperate to bluff his way past impatient colleagues, Krippendorf decides to focus his camera on the wildest tribe he can find: his own outragoues offspring! With a top cast including Lily Tomlin (DISNEY'S THE KID) -- you'll find the crowd-pleasing lengths taken to pull off this hoax absolutely hilarious!

This tribe is a little too predictable...

Sure, `Krippendorf's Tribe' is fun, to an extent, but it's not really as funny as it could be and in the end it is not really as enjoyable as it could be. I found some pleasure in it, but it was limited and for the most part it relied on a more slapstick approach to its humor to get laughs, and I prefer a more intellectual approach (I know, this is not an intellectual movie but still, it could have been a little smarter).

The film tells the story of anthropologist Professor James Krippendorf who had received a grant, along with his wife, to find an unknown tribe out in New Guinea. When his wife died unexpectedly James crashed emotionally and exhausted the money from the grant doing absolutely nothing productive and so, in fear that he'll be sent to prison for abusing the terms of the grant he creates a fictitious tribe. His one little (or not so little) lie spirals out of control and creates a worldwide phenomenon (especially since the tribe is unlike anything anyone has ever heard of) and he finds himself documenting footage of this tribe with his children in his very backyard. An overzealous Professor, Veronica, causes more complications in James keeping his lie a secret, and his eldest daughter's disgust for what her father has been reduced to also starts to weight heavy on James' decisions.

The problem with `Krippendorf's Tribe' lies in a few areas. First, the concept, while promising, is not executed as well as it could have been. It's not believable. Sure, it's an outlandish comedy that doesn't have to be probable, but it still should be believable. The fact that no one recognized that the tribe's people were being played by Krippendorf and his children is ridiculous since the makeup didn't hide anything really. The fact that Veronica recognized herself on the video but the rest of the known world did not is also ridiculous. I know that it seems like a little thing to pick at, but it really reduces the entire films legitimacy. You want to be able to believe that someone could pull this off, but instead all it proves is that the people around Krippendorf were really, really stupid.

The film also makes it a point to go as far as they can (within the boundaries of its rating) to keep the jokes off-color, which is a shame since it shows the films lack of depth. It's not smart enough to come up with anything but the expected toilet humor.

The acting is decent. Richard Dreyfuss pulls his comedy off better than in `What About Bob?' but there is no Bill Murray to elevate the films mediocrity. Jenna Elfman is not a good actress and she kind of just floats here, playing a ditzy admirer as best she can. Really, the only highlight to the film is Lily Tomlin who is always funny, even when her material is not. She kept me entertained, and she was really the only reason I watched the entire film. The film can thank Tomlin for aiding it to a two star (high D) and not a one star rating. August 29, 2008

Tribal Comedy

This is one of the funniest movies I ever saw, and I have seen alot. Great preformances by Dreyfuss and Elfman make this movie work wonderfully and make you laugh so hard you think your going to cry. This film is put together in a way it's sure to make you laugh.
Professor James Krippendorf(Richard Dreyfess) is a Professor of anthropology and also a widower. Down in depression he ends up using the universities grant money for his own personal use. Faced with either confessing and going to jail, or going on with his fairy tale tribe. He chooses to go on with his made up tribe the Shelmikedmu. Using his own 3 kids and back yard for filming. He comes up with the most unique tribe ever seen before. Also with the help of his over anxious colleague Veronica Macelli(Jenna Elfman) who wont leave him alone. He ends up going deeper and deeper into his fairytale tribe, and trying to keep up with his lie. They end up taking the tribe national. But there is one of his colleagues Ruth Allen that just isn't swallowing all this Shelmikedmu stuff. So she decides to go to New Guinea and prove that it's all a scam. Even Krippendorf goes so far he ends up going in person and on national tv as the Cheif Utta Baji.
This movie is very well put together, and just so ridiculous you got to laugh. In the end you will wish you were shelmikedmu too. It's definetly worth having in your movie collection and seeing.


August 25, 2008

Comedy for Anthropologists

I own this on VHS and it is only one of two movies I can think of that is comedic and concerns anthropology, unless you count N.C.'s early Yanomamo documentaries. The other is "The Gods Must Be Crazy." Yes it is funny- they both are. It's a little bit too formulaic as a comedy to rate five stars but Lily Tomlin is hilarious as the competitive colleague. And I've always liked Richard Dreyfuss since he first stuck his head in the doorway of Dustin Hoffman's room in "The Graduate". Just fun. March 1, 2006

It was hilarious

I laughed a lot. It was a unique movie; I have never seen anything like it before. If you like off-beat comedies like "Captain Ron" and "Carbon Copy", you'll enjoy this. If you take things too seriously like a New York theater-goer, then this is not your film. June 3, 2005

The Case Of The Scandelous Shelmikedmu Scam!

Pity poor Professor Krippendorf! His wife has died, he is doing only a so-so job of raising three dysfunctional children, and, as if he does not have enough problems already, he has sqandered money from his college that was supposed to be used to find a mysterious missing New Guinea tribe, which he has not done. His solution? Fake it. He announces the discovery of a make-believe tribe, the "Shelmikedmu" (the name derived from his childrens' names). One thing leads to another, and before you know it there is a national Shelmikedmu craze. Ah, but what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. Not all believe him and it is only a matter of time before the truth may be discovered. Will Krippendorf succeed or will he be caught?

To give this movie credit, it has its funny moments. Dreyfuss is good as Krippendorf, up and coming actor Gregory Smith also holds his own as Krippendorf's son. Unfortunately, there is a major problem with this movie - Krippendorf is is the wrong! This guy has stolen college funds, lied, corrupted the morals of his children, and we are to believe he is the good guy. If the move has a moral, it seems to be "it's okay to do something you shouldn't, as long as you don't get caught".

That is a no-no. June 25, 2004

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