Appalling in premise and execution, Krippendorf's Tribe is a
glorification of scientific dishonesty and cultural insensitivity
masquerading as a family comedy. Richard Dreyfuss plays James Krippendorf,
an anthropologist who accepts a $100,000 grant to find a lost tribe in New
Guinea, but forgets after the death of his wife that he has to produce some
research. With the help of an ambitious and amorous colleague, he fakes
some footage using his three children in blackface and hits the
anthropological big time.
Disney, proud parent of Little Indian, Big City and Jungle 2
Jungle, assigned Charlie Peters' script to their Touchstone division,
no doubt because of the constant repetition of the word "penis." If they're
going to make brand-new films with this level of brazen political
incorrectness, their refusal to rerelease Song of the South is
incomprehensible.
Dreyfuss appears to have modeled his acting style after the throaty
mumblings of the Max Fleischer-era Popeye. Jenna Elfman, so luminous on
ABC's Wednesday-night treasure Dharma and Greg, does her best, but
she's stuck with a boilerplate role that almost renders her charming
aggressiveness unpleasant. Ah-just thinking about Dharma and Greg
almost makes the pain go away. (If you take nothing else away from this
review, remember this: Wednesday nights, your TV should be tuned to ABC
from 7 until 9.)
There is a funny moment in Krippendorf's Tribe, but if you
blink, you'll miss it. A science magazine puts the lost tribe on its cover,
and as the characters pass it around you can make out the titles of the
magazine's other features, like "Hydroponics: Not Again." There's more
imagination in the prop department than anywhere else in this sad, frantic
movie.
© 1995-99 DesertNet, LLC . Nashville Scene . Powered by Dispatch