If it is possible to recommend a film soley on the fact that it has a couple funny scenes, "Krippendorf's Tribe" is the one to recommend. It is not sporadically funny. It is barely remotely funny. But it hits the laugh-mark a few times, and when it does, the results are hilarious.
The hilarious scene in "Krippendorf's Tribe" isn't a potentially smart one, nor a particularly witty one. But it is hilarious, and it had me rolling over on the floor in laughter. Sadly, there are only one or two scenes like this; the rest of the film tries to be funny but just isn't. Blame it on the script, blame it on the director, but don't blame it on Richard Dreyfuss, because you can tell he tried.
Dreyfuss plays Krippendorf, an anthropologist researching a legendary tribe deep in New Guinea. The film opens with shots of him filming with his camera. Unfortunately, he comes back to America with no evidence of any real tribe. But the real bad news is that his grant money has been completely used up. And things get even worse when Krippendorf finds out that a person can go to jail for what he has done (misappropriating grant money).
The day of his lecture on the tribe grows nearer, and when he finally gets up in front of everyone...he lies.
You see, earlier that day, in the spur of a moment, Krippendorf took his three children, dressed them up with Indian-tribe-type cloaks, and painted their faces. Presto. Instant tribe-members. He filmed them in the backyard, then took the video to his conference, where he proceeds to lie to everyone in the room, saying he has found the legendary tribe and has caught them on videotape. He plays the tape, and they all believe him. Whew.
But now they want to see more. They want to see the tribe. They want to hear about their lifestyles, their rituals; Access Hollywood, anyone?
Because of this plot setup results the funniest scene in the movie, in which Krippendorf sets up a fake circumcision bit with one of his children. I won't ruin that scene, because it is really the only thing worth seeing in the movie.
If you want a night-in watching a film, but don't feel like anything profound of memorable, "Krippendorf's Tribe" is the way to go, but don't expect anything too special.
2.5/5 stars -
John Ulmer
