krippendorf 's tribe is a formula comedy .
done poorly , formulaic comedies might seem to signify the downfall of american cinema .
however , every now and then , one emerges , like krippendorf 's tribe , that actually works .
professor james krippendorf ( richard dreyfuss ) , the renowned anthropologist , is in trouble .
his university gave him a hefty grant to discover a lost tribe in new guinea .
however , he found .
. .
nothing .
his wife has recently died , and he has spent the remainder of the grant money in raising his three kids : shelly ( natasha lyonne ) , mickey ( gregory smith ) and edmund ( carl michael lidner ) .
tonight , he is expected to lecture on his newfound tribe .
rather than break the news ( and face the consequences of misusing his funds ) , he invents a tribe : the shelmikedmu ( named after his kids ) .
however , one lie begets another as he is not only required to deliver filmed proof of the shelmikedmu , but his research becomes a popular phenomenon .
soon , professor krippendorf is caught up in an elaborate ruse in which he films mockumentary footage starring his children as the shelmikedmu tribal members .
his efforts are hampered by the boasts of an over - eager colleague , veronica micelli ( jenna elfman ) , and the intense scrutiny of a rival anthropologist , ruth allen ( lily tomlin ) .
krippendorf 's tribe does seem to require a little suspension of disbelief .
no one seems to question the way his field documentaries seem to be shot with multiple cameras , or that his newly discovered tribesmen have startlingly blue eyes .
luckily , as the film builds momentum , that suspension of disbelief is easy to come by .
though there 's some mild humor in the krippendorf family trying to pass themselves off as a lost tribe , the real humor of the film is in how james gets trapped in his ever increasing snowball of lies .
the double meanings to many of the shelmikedmu appearances are enjoyable , and the comic timing required for some of the film 's latter scenes is superb .
richard dreyfuss is terrific
as the hapless professor who soon loses control of his own imaginary tribe .
jenna elfman 's position as a romantic lead seems a bit forced at times , but she plays the part with extreme affability .
even the kids , who in films like this tend to be a bit on the precocious side , are endearing and humorous .
yes , the film does veer occasionally into some rather lowbrow humor , but it has the best excuse of all :
it 's funny .
it may not go down as an all - time classic , but it certainly delivers what you expect from a comedy : plenty of laughs .
endearing and humorous enjoyable terrific plenty of laughs actually works the real humor plays the part with extreme affability it 's funny superb