Krippendorf's Tribe . Tucson Weekly . 03-09-98

Krippendorf's Tribe

DIRECTED BY: Todd Holland

REVIEWED: 03-09-98

In Mr. Holland's Opus, Richard Dreyfuss reaffirmed the heroism of teaching and won himself a best-actor Oscar nomination in the process. Perhaps the good karma was just too much for the guy, because in Krippendorf's Tribe Dreyfuss plays a disorganized anthropologist who squanders his grant money and then pretends he's discovered a unique new culture in hopes of maintaining the cash flow. When colleagues demand evidence, Dreyfuss and his three kids dress up in the Papua New Guinea equivalent of blackface and film each other performing crude (in more ways than one) rituals in their back yard. Wouldn't you know it, further kooky comic hijinks ensue. There's a hint of social satire here on the level of "See? We're the really primitive ones," and Dreyfuss is somewhat sympathetic because, sniff, he's a single parent. But the movie's one offensive joke and sitcom-style wackiness get mighty painful mighty fast. That Dreyfuss, Lily Tomlin (as a skeptical academic) and Jenna Elfman (as an aggressively peppy love interest) try to reduce the agony via self-mocking exuberance didn't stop me from praying for their characters' swift and merciless demise. If there's one thing Krippendorf's Tribe teaches us, it's that when all else fails, you can always pick on the minorities who don't have access to movie theaters.

--Woodruff

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