The primary offense of this bland romp is that it’s centered around a barely likeable stick-in-the-mud. The protagonist in question, Professor Krippendorf (Richard Dreyfuss), is a washed up anthropologist who promotes a hoax and lures women into bed by getting them intoxicated, though the film shamelessly tries to afford him some sympathetic latitude by making him a widowed, single father. To jumpstart his sagging career, Krippendorf concocts a tale about an elusive, Neolithic tribe that brings him instant fame, fortune and a bevy of trouble — mostly in the form of Lily Tomlin’s skeptic — when he’s forced to produce proof of their existence. TV star Jenna Elfman is a bubbly addition as Krippendorf’s student turned colleague, though she’s essentially an extension of Dharma. Loaded with contrasting elements, like bathroom humor, overt sexual innuendoes and kids that are empowered with more common sense than the adults.
