‘Krippendorf’s Tribe’ Not Just Insulting, But Also Silly, Unimaginative

There once may have been a solid little satire lurking in “Krippendorf’s Tribe.” That was before the philistines got hold of it.

Based on Frank Parkin’s 1986 novel, this comedy centers on a lackadaisical anthropologist who lands a big grant to study a “lost” tribe in New Guinea. Instead he blows the money.

Then, faced with returning the cash or going to jail for fraud, the scientist decides to fake it, conjuring up a Stone Age civilization and proving his claims with doctored artifacts and staged footage.

There’s no shortage of deserving targets in this premise: academic rivalry, public gullibility, personal duplicity, the perceived absence of ethical standards in the scientific community.

But as scripted by Charlie Peters and directed by Todd Holland (cable’s “The Larry Sanders Show”), “Krippendorf’s Tribe” becomes just another sitcom — and frequently flirts with political incorrectness.

Richard Dreyfuss plays James Krippendorf, who has been too busy recovering from the death of his wife and the behavior of his three dysfunctional children to deal with his work. Now the college where he teaches is expecting him to deliver a lecture on his New Guinea research.

Trouble is, there is no research. The lost tribe he was looking for remains lost. His notes are a mess. His videotape remains unexamined and unedited. So he wings it, inventing from whole cloth the Neolithic Shelmikedmu tribe. He discusses mating habits, a family situation in which men serve as single parents and a rare circumcision ceremony.

And when a rival anthropologist (Lily Tomlin) demands evidence, the desperate Krippendorf turns his back yard into a jungle “set,” daubs his kids with mud and feathers and mixes this faked footage with the real stuff brought back from New Guinea.

Unamusing are the passages in which Krippendorf passes himself off as a Shelmikedmu shaman. Consider: a white man covers himself in stain and furs, pretending to be a black man, and proceeds to shout gibberish, do silly dances and gesticulate wildly.

Anybody else see a problem with this?

The real problem is one of limited creativity. Invariably Holland and crew take the easy way out, relying on slapstick and stock characters, half-baked sentimentality and cliched situations.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “Krippendorf’s Tribe” Locations: Newport Cinemas, Spokane Valley Mall, Showboat Credits: Directed by Todd Holland, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Lily Tomlin, Jenna Elfman, Tom Poston, Elaine Stritch, David Ogden Stiers Running time: 1:40 Rating: PG-13