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 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.

This work falls in there with movies like Howard the Duck, Oliver Stone's Alexander, Cherry 2000, and Taylor's Cleopatra in that tons of money was spent in the making, only to have the audiences reject the work.None of the works named stunk, indeed, there are endearing moments and qualities to every ONE of those works, but as far as average audiences were concerned, they were dismal disappointments, for one reason or another. Clifford is generally considered to have fallen into that category.Martin Short portrays a 90 year old priest, and a 10 year old holy terror of a child who will do anything he can (and what he can do is formidable) to get to Dinosaur World to fulfill his dream.I found this work amusing. I was highly entertained by Clifford's constant, non-stop, one track obsession and his total lack of that little voice which tells most people that their inappropriate actions are a BAD idea! It makes me thankful I'm not raising children at this point in my life; that part of my life is done, so I can appreciate the humor herein.I do not understand why this work is generally despised, other than Clifford IS a holy terror. He is the epitome of the Demon Seed. But the work is endearingly quirky, amusing, and entertaining.I liked it and own it. It rates a 7.8/10 from...the Fiend :.