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Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good start, but then it gets ruined

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Blistering performances.

The incredibly talented Martin Short crosses the line here in an obvious home alone rip-off where he attempts to play an adolescent who happens to be the biggest demon child since "The Omen's" Damian, no medication invented to give him time out. An equally obnoxious uncle and his ridiculously naive fiancée are forced into Clifford's mad world which surrounds revenge because uncle Groton didn't take the vicious kid to dinosaur world. Even as an apparent fable told to a brat in the far off future can't hide the fact that there is truly nothing funny here and that short is over-the-top obnoxious and totally unbelievable. Poor Steenburgen, always lovely, seems embarrassed by all goings on, and Dabney Coleman ("Nine to Five's" comically evil boss) is totally misused in another male chauvinist pig role. Do yourself and your kids a favor and stick to the original "Our Gang" series.

This is the absolute funniest movie Martin Short has ever made (to date)! Hilarious from beginning to end! (BTW, Martin Short plays the funniest priest in the history of film besides the funniest child character ever!) Charles Grodin is perfect as Clifford's poor frustrated uncle! Dabney Coleman as Charles Groden's boss is ever-so creepy and plays the part to the hilt! And this is our fave movie with Mary Steenbergen - she is sweet, as always, but allowed to be funny, too. The writing, directing, editing, clever photography (to make Clifford/Martin Short look small) is 100% pure genius! We've watched this movie over and over and over through the years and cannot rate it high enough! The dialog is more-than hilarious and we quote lines from this film all the time. If you have a sense of humor and like to laugh, this movie is a MUST SEE! 100% GENIUS!! Martin Short is a comic genius!!!

The only reason I watched this whole thing through was it just had to get better at some point. It HAD to! There was just too much talent on the screen for this mess to keep stumbling along at low speed. Martin Short stars as the title character who is apparently a ten year old boy. At least he is supposed to be. Anyway, he is truly a monster. He plays a series of cruel practical jokes on his uncle played by Charles Grodin. Grodin has agreed to watch the little brat for whatever reason I don't quite recall. He hopes that taking care of the little tyke will impress Mary Steenburgen whom he is intending to marry. Grodin is basically one of those long-term bachelors (like yours truly) who waited until practically middle age to settle down. Hopefully bonding with the young man will show his lady that he is in fact a good catch.The first time you look at Martin Short, and accept the premise that he is in fact a little boy, you begin to expect to laugh. But the filmmakers must have thought the premise was enough, since they just don't give Clifford and his uncle enough funny things to do. Most of the pranks are cruel, and a few are admittedly funny. The only real laughs I had were watching Grodin's reactions to some of the pranks. He was a really talented guy, but it looks like he mostly retired after this came out. Hard to blame him. There is a stupid subplot involving Dabney Coleman trying to win Steenburgen over and eventually almost trying to rape her in the back of a limo. Ha ha. The film has a cheap look to it, and its no surprise to learn it was actually filmed in 1990. This was during a bleak period of American cinema when even some of the better films were just lazily made. The climax of this film takes place at a Dinosaur themed amusement park that looks incredibly cheap and mostly made with cardboard and matte paintings. The musical score is a generic up-beat, by-the-numbers deal that sounds like something Danny Elfman would have wadded up and thrown in the garbage in a fit of despair.The stars of this film deserved something better, and I have no doubt that better writers and a better director could have had something here. But as it stands, Clifford is an unfunny, mean-spirited mess. And a big waste of talent. 3 of 10 stars.The Hound.

I saw Clifford for the first time yesterday. For the most part I thought it was odd. Martin Short plays Clifford, who is one of the most annoying characters ever. Seriously, Clifford does not at all look like a ten year old as SHort is playing him. It just is odd how Short is playing a ten year old. Also there really is no explanation why he is such a jerk. He just is totally obnoxious for no reason at all, I don't get it. I think Martin Short is OK, but this is just a bizarre performance that left me wondering. Some parts of this film were funny, but mainly this movie had odd humor that did not really stand out. The only thing that stood out was the entire Dinosaur Land scene at the end. Mary Steenberg once again showed that she is one of the most boring actresses ever and one that ADDS NOTHING TO ANY FILM SHE HAS EVER BEEN IN!!! Seriously, she was bad in Philadelphia, bad in Elf, bad in Back to the Future Part 3, bad in Gullivers Travels, and bad in this film. I thought the character of Uncle Martin in this film was odd also. Seemed a little bi polar at times, angry at parts and happy at others. BUt he did bring up the interesting fact that Clifford can not even act like a normal kid. So this film had an annoying main character, maybe the most annoying ever, bad humor, and Mary Steenberg. Not recommended.