Predrag
Great performances 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.Dreyfus handles the comedy with aplomb as he has done before, with the help of a supportive cast. It was nice to see Phil Leeds one last time in a couple of very brief appearances in a crowd scene. He was one of those talented character actors who always added that bit of spice to a production. 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 definitely worth seeing.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
Wuchak
"Krippendorf's Tribe" (1998) stars Richard Dreyfuss as the titular grieving anthropologist who is compelled to hoax an isolated tribe still living in the Stone Age. Jenna Elfman plays his assistant, Natasha Lyonne his daughter, Stephen Root his boss and Lily Tomlin his rival. As my title blurb says, this movie spoofs Academia and the Tasaday hoax. If you're not familiar with the latter, a supposedly isolated tribe still living in the Stone Age was "discovered" on the Philippine island of Mindanao and prominently featured in a 1972 issue of National Geographic. In 1986 it was discovered that the Tasaday were simply members of known local tribes who put on the appearance of living a Stone Age lifestyle under pressure from Manuel Elizalde.The movie's silly and fun, but not laugh-out-loud funny, although there are a handful of mild laughs. That said, humor's a personal thing, which explains why some people find this movie funny. I don't, but it's likable and quietly amusing. If you're a fan of Dreyfuss and Elfman it's a must. The film runs 94 minutes and was shot in the Los Angeles area and Ka'a'awa, O'ahu, Hawaii. GRADE: C+
kenburke0627
This movie is supposed to be a comedy, but it comes across as being funny for the wrong reasons. The professor (Richard Dreyfuss) is supposed to be the "good guy", but what is he doing? He (a) misappropriates college funds, (b) tells a bold faced lie to cover up his misdeeds, (c) involves his children in the scam, (d) gets a woman drunk to have sex with her (that's rape as in sexual assault, in case you have forgotten) and winds up televising it to the public, (d) tries to get more money from the college via the same scam, and (e), once the truth is out in the open, is saved via a lie from his daughter. Those that are after the truth are portrayed as arrogant, unfair, and snobbish who "deserve" to be fooled. The fact that the professor is in the wrong seems to get lost in the shuffle, and if there's a moral to the movie it's "don't get caught".I do not recommend this movie, for the above reasons, for children.
NKMVAL
if i could i would give this movie a rating of more than 10 it was so amazing. finally non cable TV had some good movies on and this was one of them on a Sunday afternoon as i flipped through my 7 channels (if u don't have cable go get it, no cable sucks) i love this movie so so funny. it's got everything you want in it, everything, and for all ages too. there are only about 2 short parts you should cover your kids eyes for a few uh grown up scenes. but the rest is all kid stuff. adults when u see this u will feel like a kid again. it's awesome! everyone should go rent it and i mean it. if you don't like the movie well then u have no fun anyways. it's a wonderful funny hilarious cute sweet movie! go rent it if i can i will buy it and i don't own any movies because i usually think all movies are so so and you only want to see them once but this is a movie you want to see over and over again every time you watch it you will notice something else funny! go rent it!
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