Plot
Respected anthropologist James Krippendorf and his wife, Jennifer, bring their three children along during their much-enjoyed search in New Guinea for a lost tribe. The search fails, despite the family's best efforts. After Jennifer's death back in the U.S., James falls into academic stagnation, having spent all his foundation grant money raising the children as a single parent. Scheduled to lecture at a college and fearful of being charged with misuse of grant funds, James concocts an imaginary tribe, the Shelmikedmu, using the names of his children as a basis. He later fakes a 16 mm "documentary" film, casting his children as tribe members and superimposing footage of a legitimate New Guinean tribe so as to enhance the illusion. Anthropologist Veronica Micelli contacts cable-TV producer Henry Spivey, forcing James to continue creating fraudulent footage as James' rival Ruth Allen becomes suspicious. Because he has described a culture unlike any other, Krippendorf's fraud becomes increasingly famous. James himself masquerades as a tribal elder, while his two sons, Mickey and Edmund, create and enact increasingly imaginative rituals. Only the eldest child, James' daughter Shelly, refuses to participate due to her disgust at the dishonesty perpetrated by her father. Taking advantage of her curiosity, James tricks Veronica into participating in his false documentary. When she discovers the truth, she is initially angry, but later helps James continue his fraud. Ruth Allen travels to New Guinea, discovering no tribe in the location specified by James. She transmits the news via fax to a colleague, who exposes James at a gala. James' imaginative son, Mickey, improvises a lie, that the Shelmikedmu hide by means of a magical ritual known only to them. Unknown to the majority of the characters, Shelly has contacted the New Guineans befriended by her family during the futile search for the lost tribe, urging them to masquerade as the Shelmikedmu in order to disappoint Ruth Allen. The ruse succeeds, and the accusation of fraud is abandoned. James, relieved of his worries, ends his fraud. Because Veronica has become sexually involved with him during her participation in his deceit, she assumes the role of a mother toward the children, though she is not explicitly said to marry James.Cast
* Richard Dreyfuss as Professor James Krippendorf * Jenna Elfman as Professor Veronica Micelli * Natasha Lyonne as Shelly Krippendorf * Lily Tomlin as Professor Ruth Allen * Barbara Williams as Professor Jennifer Harding Krippendorf * Gregory Smith as Michael "Mickey" Krippendorf * Carl Michael Lindner as Edmund Krippendorf *Reception
Box office
''Krippendorf's Tribe'' opened at #7 in its opening weekend with $3,316,377. By the end of its domestic run, the film grossed $7,571,115.Critical response
The film received generally negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 16% based on reviews from 38 critics, with an average rating of 4.1/10. Roger Ebert of the '' Chicago Sun-Times'' gave the film a score of two out of four stars, writing: "Is it possible to recommend a whole comedy on the basis of one scene that made you laugh almost uncontrollably? I fear not. And yet ''Krippendorf's Tribe'' has such a scene, and many comedies have none." Kevin Thomas of the ''References
External links
* * * {{Todd Holland 1998 films 1998 comedy films American comedy films Films based on British novels Films set in 1997 Films shot in California Films shot in Hawaii American mockumentary films Touchstone Pictures films Films scored by Bruce Broughton 1990s English-language films Films directed by Todd Holland 1990s American films