Clifford (film)

Clifford
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paul Flaherty
Produced by	Larry Brezner Pieter Jan Brugge
Written by	Jay Dee Rock & Bobby Von Hayes
Narrated by	Martin Short
Starring	Martin Short Charles Grodin Mary Steenburgen Dabney Coleman
Music by	Richard Gibbs
Cinematography	John A. Alonzo
Editing by	Tim Board Pembroke J. Herring
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release date(s)	April 1, 1994 (USA)
Running time	90 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$7,411,659 (USA)

Clifford is a 1994 comedy film starring Martin Short, Charles Grodin, and Mary Steenburgen.

The film was shot in 1990 and originally planned for release in the summer of 1991, but remained in limbo for several years due to Orion Pictures' bleak financial situation. It wasn't released until 1994.

The film's tagline is "What's the difference between Clifford and a pit bull? One will tear your heart out, scare your friends, and wreck your house. The other one is a dog."

Plot

At a Catholic school in 2050, a troublesome boy named Roger is running away after blowing up the gym due to not being allowed to play on the basketball team. The coach had accepted him for the team, but his parents won't allow him to play contact sports. And the boys hate him. He's stopped by Father Clifford (Martin Short), a very old priest, who tries to persuade him to change his ways by telling him a story of his own youth.

Flashing back to the present, the 10-year-old Clifford is a deceptive, evil, weird-looking boy who never lets go of a toy dinosaur he calls Stephan. He loves dinosaurs and his dream is to visit Dinosaur World, a theme park located in California.

While flying with his parents to Honolulu, Clifford purposely causes a catastrophe on board and puts himself, his parents, the passengers, and the crew in danger, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles. His father scolds him because he is not allowed to get back on the flight, though he has an important engagement to attend.

From the airport, Clifford's dad phones his brother Martin (Charles Grodin), who resides in Los Angeles, to propose the idea of Clifford staying with him for a while. He thinks that this could be the perfect opportunity to prove to his fiancée, Sarah Davis (Mary Steenburgen), how well he interacts with children, especially his nephew whom he hasn't seen since he was baptized. Little does he know that a calculating monster hides behind Clifford's innocent smile.

Upon their reunion, Martin reveals to Clifford that he designed Larry the Scary Rex (a Dinosaur World attraction) and is able to get into the park free of charge. This only strengthens Clifford's obsession to visit the theme park. Martin promises to take him there, but is ultimately forced to back out because he must finish designing new plans for the transportation system of Los Angeles. This enrages Clifford, who embarks on a path of destruction and sabotage.

Clifford turns his uncle's life upside down, jeopardizing Martin's relationship with Sarah as well as his job. Among other things, he compliments Martin's boss, Mr. Ellis (Dabney Coleman), about his toupee to his face and causes Martin to be humiliated at Sarah's parents' 35th wedding anniversary party by replacing his Bloody Mary with straight Tabasco sauce. Clifford manages to get Martin to do an unprepared toast, which turns into a disaster after Martin drinks the Tabasco and then tries to soothe his mouth by drinking straight out of the punch bowl in front of Sarah's family. Clifford causes further embarrassment by replacing Martin's ChapStick with lipstick, and tops it off by getting him arrested in front of Sarah's family after calling in a bomb threat. To add further punishment for Martin's reneging on his promise, Clifford tricks him into boarding a train to San Francisco and destroys all of his work by planting a bomb in a presentation during a press conference, which causes him to be fired from the architectural firm at which he worked.

With his life in ruins as a result of Clifford's destructive behavior, Martin's sanity snaps. He finally takes Clifford to Dinosaur World, after hours, to make him ride the Larry the Scary Rex ride until he can no longer take it. After going through it once, Clifford seems to enjoy himself, so Martin ups the ride's speed again and again, to the point where, he says, he puts it on hyperdrive. The ride malfunctions and Clifford's cart crashes, leaving him dangling above the jaws of a robotic dinosaur.

Clifford cries out for Martin to save him. Martin hesitates because he worries about what could happen in the future of mankind if he saves Clifford's life. He does the right thing and risks his own life to save Clifford, and the two escape just before everything collapses. Clifford finally apologizes for his behavior, but Martin is fed up. He tells Clifford that he is a destructive thing, not a human. Clifford, who was upset, decides not to go home with Martin.

We momentarily return to the future when Father Clifford says that this experience made him turn his life around. He wrote hundreds of letters asking his uncle's forgiveness, to little avail. But later on, Martin gave him "the bestest request in the whole wide world," inviting him to Martin's and Sarah's wedding, which meant that he had finally forgiven Clifford.

Roger decides to not run away and to write hundreds of letters, asking for forgiveness. Father Clifford then takes Stephan (which as a child he kept talking to and blaming for his own actions), saying, "Mission accomplished, old friend."

Cast

• Martin Short as Young Clifford Daniels/Father Clifford Daniels
• Charles Grodin as Martin Daniels
• Mary Steenburgen as Sarah Davis
• Dabney Coleman as Gerald Ellis
• Richard Kind as Julien Daniels
• Jennifer Savidge as Theodora Daniels
• Ben Savage as Roger
• Don Galloway as Captain
• Tim Lane as Navigator
• Timothy Stack as Kevin's Father
• Marianne Muellerleile as Kevin's Mother
• G.D. Spradlin as Parker Davis
• Anne Jeffreys as Annabelle Davis
• Richard Fancy as Detective

Reception

The film was critically panned. It currently holds a 9% approval rating at Rotten tomatoes based on 22 reviews (20 negative, 2 positive).^[1] Roger Ebert gave the film a half-star of a possible four. Writing: "The movie is so odd, it's almost worth seeing just because we'll never see anything like it again. I hope."^[2]

References

1. ^ Clifford Rotten Tomatoes
2. ^ Clifford Roger Ebert review

External links

• Clifford at the Internet Movie Database
• Clifford at Rotten Tomatoes