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.

Krippendorf's Tribe (1998): Dir: Todd Holland / Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Jenna Elfman, Gregory Smith, Natasha Lyonne, Lily Tomlin: The tribe speculated upon regards a family to its hero in a recycled idea that worked well in Tootsie. Richard Dreyfuss stars as a single parent who has until evening to complete a speech regarding his tribal research. He convinces the board with a phony video of his family playing a tribe in their backyard. Jenna Elfman wishes to broadcast his success so he gets her drunk and involves her in a mating ritual that she will eventually see on the news. Meanwhile there are those whom do not buy the act and set out to prove him a fraud. Recycled concept fully formula with a conceited ending. Director Todd Holland does well with the film's amateur appeal. Dreyfuss and Elfman have fine comic chemistry that translates the only decent comic payoff in the entire charade. Gregory Smith and Natasha Lyonne have the misfortune of playing the reluctant children but their roles are typical and far from elevated. The biggest waste is the usually funny Lily Tomlin playing someone attempting to expose Krippendorf as a fraud by searching for the real tribe. With only its leads pulling through it is a wonder that it couldn't muster up a single original idea. Familiar premise leaves viewers with little other than to wonder what the Krippendorf yard sale would look like. Score: 3 / 10

I think this is a great film for anthropology students. It demonstrates many of the hypocricies that exist within academia as well as the types of pressures that many professionals feel within the field. I also think it's a great introductory example for anthropology students regarding ethics, structures of cultures, and the nature of our own culture (how we justify normally taboo items).I show it to my Introduction to Anthropology students every year. They laugh, they ask questions, and they appreciate the film. I recommend it. I've used it for years in Anthropology classes - I have students analyze the Shelmikedmud and come up with more cultural traits. I then follow by having them simulate the type of cultural creations that scifi writers do - creating their own alien cultures.

Uneven comedy takes an interesting (though admittedly silly) premise but doesn't quite know what to do with it. Richard Dreyfus stars as James Krippendorf, a professor who attempts to save his reputation (and skin) with a fictitious account of a previously unknown New Guinea tribe. Forced to back up his lie, he resorts to shooting footage in his backyard of he and his children dressed as savages and performing ridiculous rituals. Soon even that lie necessitates further lies until things seem destined to come crashing down any second."Krippendorf's Tribe" certainly has its moments, and even when it's not laughable (which is often), it's generally amusing. Still, some segments are painfully awkward and unfunny. One Krippendorf boy's science project, for instance, demonstrates a girl about to be anointed with pig urine before entering menstruation in a hut. And Dreyfus, who is such a better fit as the straight man, gets annoying when posing as a grunting tribesman flown into contemporary society. Both he and the story begin to run out of steam after the first hour.Somewhere within "Krippendorf's Tribe" is an excellent wacky comedy ready to spring forth. But based on the minuscule box office this picture earned, it's unlikely the concept will be revived any time soon.