"The Gods Must Be Crazy" - Film Review

The Gods Must Be Crazy is a one-note movie. Granted, its central concept sounds brilliant (and it initially is), but much of the film feels like it’s merely a justification for that one interesting idea.

When a Coca-Cola bottle is dropped carelessly out from a plane onto an African bushman village, the tribe has never seen such a thing before and soon becomes obsessed with the object. They assume their gods must have sent it down from the heavens for them to use. But when it begins to change their way of life for the worse, they send off one of their own, Xi (Nǃxau) to go to the “end of the world” to get rid of it.

It’s an amusing little story in the beginning and it hits all the right beats regarding the bushman’s reactions to the Coke bottle. But then the film begins to branch out and it starts to get convoluted. The film loses sight of the bushman and the Coke bottle and increasingly focuses on the story of a news reporter whose decided to teach children in Africa and the scientist helping her get to the town she’s supposed to work in. 

The film devolves into a series of sight gags of varying quality. Some of which just don’t seem all that necessary. Between the sight gags and the slapstick, the film has an aura of silent film homage.

One of the better aspects is the light but amusing satire. The criticisms of American consumer society in particular are only surface level deep but their still funny. There’s also other hit or miss jabs at African dictatorships and warlords, and ethnographic documentaries. 

The Gods Must Be Crazy doesn’t live up to its premise’s potential, but it’s a pleasant if not disappointing film. 

Grade: C+