Krippendorf's Tribe has achieved something special, an incredible balance of fun and smarts accessible to all.

There's a bit of exaggeration that will hold the interest of those who want primal fun, but little enough as not to displease those who do not want to be submerged by unrealistic situations.

The intelligent humor of the dialogs and scenario will easily enthused those who need smarts to appreciate a comedy, but not so much as to rebuff those who do not want to work their brains to laugh.

The acting is without reproach, even if a few of the secondary characters are a bit caricatured. The photography, soundtrack, and editing are as perfect as they are invisible, yet remarkable. The story is without logical flaw.

A must see, easily enjoyable by anyone.

"Krippendorf's Tribe" (1998) stars Richard Dreyfuss as the titular grieving anthropologist who is compelled to hoax an isolated tribe still living in the Stone Age. Jenna Elfman plays his assistant, Natasha Lyonne his daughter, Stephen Root his boss and Lily Tomlin his rival.

As my title blurb says, this movie spoofs Academia and the Tasaday hoax. If you're not familiar with the latter, a supposedly isolated tribe still living in the Stone Age was "discovered" on the Philippine island of Mindanao and prominently featured in a 1972 issue of National Geographic. In 1986 it was discovered that the Tasaday were simply members of known local tribes who put on the appearance of living a Stone Age lifestyle under pressure from Manuel Elizalde.

The movie's silly and fun, but not laugh-out-loud funny, although there are a handful of mild laughs. That said, humor's a personal thing, which explains why some people find this movie funny. I don't, but it's likable and quietly amusing. If you're a fan of Dreyfuss and Elfman it's a must.

The film runs 94 minutes and was shot in the Los Angeles area and Ka'a'awa, O'ahu, Hawaii.

GRADE: C+

University professor anthropologist James Krippendorf (Richard Dreyfuss) returns after failing to find the undiscovered tribe of New Guinea and the death of his wife. Veronica Micelli (Jenna Elfman) is an eager young professor and a fan of his work. She begs to join his team and he relents. Ruth Allen (Lily Tomlin) is a jealous rival. The university expects a lecture after giving him the grant. He decides to fake a tribe named Shelmikedmu for his children Shelly (Natasha Lyonne),Mickey (Gregory Smith) and Edmund to avoid jail time for misuse of grant money.

Krippendorf is an unfunny grumpy character. The only thing remotely comical is his relative height to the towering Jenna Elfman. There are no good laughs for most of the movie. There are a few chuckles like showing the circumcision scene in the lecture. However the lie annoyed me for some reason. That diminished any fun from the comedy. It tries to turn into a screwball comedy but I don't actually like Krippendorf.