Bardlerx Strictly average movie

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

vincentlynch-moonoi In just the last year I have come to appreciate Martin Short as being one of the funniest interviewees you will see on television...as well as being a remarkably funny man when paying tribute to other performers at various Hollywood tributes. And I began to wonder how I had had such a negative opinion of him in the past. And then I watched this film, in which I found him negative and grating. Of course, this film was over 20 years ago, and perhaps he has matured into a genuine wit (although I did like him in "The Three Amigos" back a while).The concept is funny -- a wildly precocious boy who seems at time to be in league with the devil, and how he ruins his uncle's life...for at least a while. Perhaps it would have been funny as a skit. But long before the 90 minutes was up I was more than tired of the story, and was just plain annoyed. However, if you can get by that, it is clear that Martin Short is very talented. But in this film he reminded me too much of an out-of-control Jerry Lewis.The other actors here do their jobs, but I was not overly impressed. Charles Grodin is "okay" as the tormented uncle, but this was not his best movie (it may have been more the material than him). Mary Steenburgen as his fiancé was "okay", but I have liked her far more in other films. And Dabney Coleman could be a hoot...but wasn't here.You know, when I think of the cast and the premise, I conclude that the problem here was probably the director, who has done a lot of sketch work on television, but sketch work is not the same as a movie. Paul Flaherty should stick to television and stay out of movies.

Steve Pulaski NOTE: This film was recommended to me by Matthew Craker for "Steve Pulaski Sees It." Despite still functioning in as a comedy with "maximum antics and minimum laughter," a label I like to put on comedies that have a lot going on but little of it turns into serviceable, humorous comedy, Clifford is still a film that's pretty original. Levied by its strong central performance by Martin Short, who's grating and as insufferable as he should be, and with the scale almost effectively balanced out by an initially mellow and progressively fiery Charles Grodin, the film walks a fine line between chaos and restraint in its narrative. You get to appreciate certain cinematic graces like this overtime, especially when you're trying to salvage something out of a film you sort of can't wait to get through watching.Clifford is miles from being a good film, but it is an occasionally fun and charming film, with glimmers of joy eking through its almost entirely unlikable premise. The film revolves around its titular character, played by Martin Short at his most chaotic; a destructive, menacing, and spoiled brat of a ten-year-old who carries around his toy dinosaur everywhere he goes and dreams of going to the themepark Dinosaur World in California. While on a flight to Hawaii with his parents, the plane makes an emergency landing in Los Angeles because of Clifford's rowdy behavior, leaving his mother and father stranded without a way to get to his father's important conference.His father decides to dump Clifford off with his Uncle Martin and his fiancée Sarah (Charles Grodin and Mary Steenburgen) at their home in Los Angeles while both him and his wife catch another flight to Hawaii. Initially, this seems like a dream for Martin, for his wife has been wanting to see how he interacts with kids since she wants kids of their home. However, Clifford isn't your average kid by any means. He's the kind that you cannot leave unattended for more than five minutes or else your home, your possessions, and your life will be in shambles.Clifford winds up making life a living hell for Uncle Martin, going as far as to ruin an important business meeting, in addition to embarrassing him in front of clients among other things, all while Sarah doesn't believe a boy so innocuous could ever be up to no good. If nothing else, the film itself is a testament to the real comedic talent and energy of Martin Short, who, at 44 at the time this film was made, plays a convincing ten-year-old menace, with no social tact or grace whatsoever. His rambunctious nature as a performer contrasts beautifully with a more reserved Charles Grodin, the recipient of the chaos, in such a way that the two work off of one another in an admirable manner that often insights some good conversational banter.The problem is getting a scene where it's solely the two actors and no other intrusions in the way of situational humor or other presences occur. The defining scene between the two is when Martin scolds Clifford for making his life a living hell and embarrassing him at the aforementioned luncheon. The scene is one of the few where there is literally nothing besides Grodin, Short, and the matter at hand (if you don't count Clifford's toy dinosaur), and because of it, the screenwriters have time to regain their composure and march on accordingly before diving into more ridiculous antics.With that, Clifford is, at the very least, an interesting film, despite boasting the "maximum antics, minimum laughter" idea of their being a lot going on narratively, but little occurring in a comedic sense. Cut out Short's energetic performance and Grodin's restraint and what you have remaining is a film that has difficultly standing on its own two legs thanks to a feeble and overall redundant premise that, like the character, breeds little more than contempt by the time it's over.Starring: Martin Short, Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen, Richard Kind, and Jennifer Savidge. Directed by: Paul Flaherty.

elshikh4 The movies of the genius troublemaker kid, or let's say the anti-Disney child, lived their own era during the first half of the 1990s. Starting with the massive success of (Home Alone - 1990) and (Problem Child - 1990). Then Hollywood's followers (Problem Child 2 - 1991), (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York - 1992), to suddenly recall an old TV series from the 1950s end to remake it in (Dennis the Menace - 1993). Before the decline of the matter into TV ones like (Problem Child 3 Junior in Love - 1995), there was another last flick : (Clifford) which was produced during the peak in 1991, but Orion's bankruptcy delayed the release.Unlike the Problem Child filthy movies, (Clifford) is nice fun. Choosing (Martin Short) as the title role was bold unpredictable move; it could've ruined the whole thing but on the contrary it didn't. He portrayed the devil in devilish way, making a smart irony, attracting more audience as he is more than hiring a kid in the first place; noticing that this opinion comes from one who's not originally one of his fans. (Charles Grodin) looked great as the wronged one (read : us in the events). The screenplay is wonderfully entertaining for both kids and grown-ups, yet I didn't understand how (Clifford) blew up the design by a cassette tape?, or why exactly (Grodin)'s character forgave him at the end?. But still small laughable movie with some witty moments and effluent pace. Maybe not explosive as some used to, maybe not filthy as some may like, but sure it's fast 90 minutes that leaves you longing for more.P.S : there is one clever point this movie made, that the super naughty kid could be the seed of ideal man someday.

paramindsoftware This is one of my favorite movies. I am longtime SCTV fan, in fact, it's my favorite show. Still, I think this movie works on a level outside the initial viewing and comparison to usual movies. The character Clifford is the archetypal prankster child that has probably lived in all of us. You can look at it in a Jungian psychological way -- Clifford has the Trickster archetype in full swing. He's also an example of the Fruedian Id without a Superego. When I first watched it, I didn't think it was that great, in fact, you might even say that I can understand why others gave it a lower rating. But when you look at the larger forces at play in the movie, it may become very enjoyable.