If it works at all, its cause of the actors

“Clifford” made me think of that hit piece of Martin Short someone wrote a year or so ago. I’ve come to realize the comedian takes too much flack; he’s much funnier than given credit for and he’s often the best part of movies that are no good. It’s hard to say if “Clifford” is any good at all but it has really fine comic actors, Short lead amongst them, and if the movie scores laughs, it’s usually because the actors are clever, not the script.

The film reminds me of movies like “Problem Child” and “The Good Son.” It also lists “The Bad Seed” as an influence on wikipedia. It stars Short as Clifford, an obnoxious 10 year old who hides what a little brat he is behind a wall of pleasant unctuousness. His dream is to go to a theme park known as Dinosaur World, so on a flight with his parents to Hawaii, he’s invited into the cockpit, where he shuts off the engines to force a landing right around where the park is.

His parents need a break and so in comes his Uncle Martin (Charles Grodin), an architect who really wants to show his girlfriend Sarah (Mary Steenburgen) that he can be a good father. Clifford starts off worshipping the Uncle he’s never met right until Martin takes back a promise to bring him to visit Dinosaur World, starting a war of practical jokes which drive Martin to the brink of sanity.

The funniest part of it is the movie’s notion that every child is in some small way a sociopath, and Short plays that about as well as to be expected. He’s cuts an angelic face with a demonic smile that made me laugh several times. Clifford is aware of strokes, but not of their seriousness so it’s kinda funny when he precociously imitates having one. Kids often have no filter in their honesty, so that can be funny too. And they often will go to great lengths to get what they want.

Clifford is a little asshole and Grodin is so good at playing seething irritation that often what’s in the script doesn’t matter. Like a scene where Martin is released from jail after being framed for something by Clifford. The reason for why he was in jail in the first place is terribly unfunny but the latent hostility between the two actors, as Steenburgen looks on non-the-wiser, is one of the film’s better moments.

The movie relies on this kind of chemistry. On its own the plot spins wildly from one cruel, uncomfortable moment to the next. Some are funny, like Clifford replacing Martin’s lip gloss with lipstick and some are unbelievably psychotic, like framing Martin for a bomb threat. It can be very funny in a mean sort of way, but also too slight and overbearing in exactly the same way.

It’s a hit or miss kind of comedy but the climax is rather good, as Martin finally takes little Clifford to the amusement park. Again, seeing Grodin and Short push their own sanity to the breaking point is the main draw of it, but the park itself is so cheesy and filled with thrilling activity that can also be used as torture devices. I wish I could say I enjoyed the rest of movie as much as I enjoyed this scene, but then again, i’d also say this movie is much better than it gets credit for.