History Film / Clifford

The film opens in the year 2050, introducing Roger (Ben Savage), a 10-year old Catholic schoolboy. The boy has just blown up the school gym because of a personal grievance (his parents wouldn't allow him to join the basketball team). Elderly priest Clifford Daniels (Short) catches up to him and tries to convince him to change his ways. To do so, Daniels starts telling his own life story.

A 1994 BlackComedy film directed by Paul Flaherty, starring Creator/MartinShort, Charles Grodin, and Creator/MarySteenburgen. Produced by Creator/OrionPictures in 1990, its release was delayed for several years due to financial problems.

-->'''Clifford Daniels''': A thought occurred to me. Do you think Miss Sarah and Mr. Ellis... would name their '''''FIRST CHILD MARTIN?!?!?!'''''

* SuddenlyShouting: Clifford does this after his second, faster trip through the Larry the Scary Rex to get under Martin's skin.

* CompanionCube: Stephan, Clifford's toy dinosaur.

Flashback to 1990, with Clifford as a 10-year-old troublemaker. He has a personal grievance, too. He wanted to visit Dinosaur World, a theme park located in California. Instead his parents booked airplane tickets to Hawaii. But Clifford finds a way to visit California anyway.

A 1994 BlackComedy film directed by Creator/PaulFlaherty, starring Creator/MartinShort, Creator/CharlesGrodin, and Creator/MarySteenburgen. Produced by Creator/OrionPictures in 1990, its release was delayed for several years due to financial problems.

The film opens in the year 2050, introducing Roger (Creator/BenSavage), a 10-year old Catholic schoolboy. The boy has just blown up the school gym because of a personal grievance (his parents wouldn't allow him to join the basketball team). Elderly priest Clifford Daniels (Short) catches up to him and tries to convince him to change his ways. To do so, Daniels starts telling his own life story.

A 1994 BlackComedy film directed by Paul Flaherty, starring Creator/MartinShort, Charles Grodin, and Mary Steenburgen. Produced by Creator/OrionPictures in 1990, its release was delayed for several years due to financial problems.

The film opens in the year 2050, introducing Roger (Ben Savage), a 10-year old Catholic schoolboy. The boy has just blown up the school gym because of a personal grievance (his parents wouldn't allow him to join the basketball team). Elderly priest Clifford Daniels (Short) catches up to him and tries to convince him to change his ways. To do so, Daniels starts telling his own life story.

* DodgyToupee: Lampshaded with Gerald Ellis and Clifford somehow notices it when they first meet. Also, said toupee gets tossed from a moving vehicle after Sarah supposedly ripped it off by [[DateRapeAverted pushing him away]]. Prior to Martin doing his presentation, he notices his boss wearing a distinctly different toupee with a ponytail.

* GilliganCut: Subverted when Martin attempts to break the news about not being able to go to Dinosaur World, it then cuts to Clifford losing control of himself and attempting to hijack Martin's car which causes him to weave through traffic.

The movie was a critical flop, with critics pointing out that it was [[DudeNotFunny hardly amusing]]. As Creator/RogerEbert put it, little Clifford is beyond your standard UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: "mean, vindictive, spiteful and cruel. So hateful that if a real little boy had played him, the movie would be like ''[[Film/TheOmen1976 The Omen]]'' filtered through ''Film/TheGoodSon''." Several of the attempts at humor were disturbing instead. In one throwaway scene, Sarah is sexually assaulted by Martin's boss. If it was [[BlackComedyRape meant to be funny]], few laughed at it.

While not a ''CreatorKiller'' in itself, the film contributed to the financial problems of nearly-bankrupt Orion Productions. Orion had had three major box office hits in the 1990s: ''Film/DancesWithWolves'', ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' and the first ''Film/TheAddamsFamily'' adaptation. The first two failed to cover the debt Orion had acquired because of a long string of 1980s box office bombs. The third film hardly helped the company, as Orion foolishly sold part of the distribution rights to Creator/{{Paramount}}. By 1994, many of Orion's most prominent executives, directors and actors had left the studio. After a few years operating as a ghost of itself, the company was sold to Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer in 1998. Today, most of its productions between 1978-1982 belong to the [[Creator/WarnerBros Time Warner Company]], most of its productions between 1982 and 1998 belong to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

A 1994 BlackComedy film directed by Paul Flaherty, starring Martin Short, Charles Grodin, and Mary Steenburgen. Produced by Creator/OrionPictures in 1990, its release was delayed for several years due to financial problems.

While not a ''CreatorKiller'' in itself, the film contributed to the financial problems of nearly-bankrupt Orion Productions. Orion had had three major box office hits in the 1990s: ''Film/DancesWithWolves'', ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' and the first ''Film/TheAddamsFamily'' adaptation. The first two failed to cover the debt Orion had acquired because of a long string of 1980s box office bombs. The third film hardly helped the company, as Orion foolishly sold part of the distribution rights to Creator/{{Paramount}}. By 1994, many of Orion's most prominent executives, directors and actors had left the studio. After a few years operating as a ghost of itself, the company was sold to MetroGoldwynMayer in 1998. Today, most of its productions between 1978-1982 belong to the [[Creator/WarnerBros Time Warner Company]], most of its productions between 1982 and 1998 belong to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

->''"What's the difference between Clifford and a pit bull? One will tear your heart out, scare your friends and wreck your house. [[BaitAndSwitchComparison The other one is a dog]]."''
-->-- '''{{Tagline}}'''

* CharacterTitle: Clifford is a movie about a boy named...Clifford.

* CharacterTitle

* CompanionCube: Stephan

* RecordedSplicedConversation: Clifford gets Martin arrested in front of Sarah's family after calling in a fake bomb threat in city hall, made out of mixing audios of Martin's scolding of Clifford with his answering machine.

While not a ''CreatorKiller'' in itself, the film contributed to the financial problems of nearly-bankrupt Orion Productions. Orion had had three major box office hits in the 1990s: ''Film/DancesWithWolves'', ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' and the first ''Film/TheAddamsFamily'' adaptation. The first two failed to cover the debt Orion had acquired because of a long string of 1980s box office bombs. The third film hardly helped the company, as Orion foolishly sold part of the distribution rights to Creator/{{Paramount}}. By 1994, many of Orion's most prominent executives, directors and actors had left the studio. After a few years operating as a ghost of itself, the company was sold to MetroGoldwynMayer in 1998. Today, most of its productions between 1978-1982 belong to the [[WarnerBros Time Warner Company]], most of its productions between 1982 and 1998 belong to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

* HumiliationConga: What happens to Martin after his model explodes on him during his presentation.

->''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.''
-->-- '''Tagline of the film'''

''Clifford'' was a 1994 BlackComedy directed by Paul Flaherty. The film starred Martin Short, Charles Grodin, and Mary Steenburgen. Produced by Orion Pictures in 1990, Orion delayed the release of the film for several years due to financial problems.

* DodgyToupee: Lampshaded with Gerald Ellis and Clifford somehow notices it when they first meet. Also, said toupee gets tossed from a moving vehicle after Sarah supposedly ripped it off by [[DateRapeAverted pushing him away]]. Prior to Martin doing his presentation, he notices his boss wearing a distinctly different a toupee with a ponytail.

* DodgyToupee: Lampshaded with Gerald Ellis and Clifford somehow notices it when they first meet. Also, said toupee gets tossed from a moving vehicle after Sarah supposedly ripped it off by [[DateRapeAverted pushing him away]]. Prior to Martin doing his presentation, he notices his boss with a toupee with a ponytail.

* HypocriticalHumor: While Martin is trying to convince Sarah of being innocent, she doesn't believe a word he says, points out that he comes off as a phony, and proclaims "I can spot a phony a mile away." The next second, a DragQueen asks Sarah if she has seen his/her missing dog. Sarah fails to notice he is actually a guy, adressing him/her as "Ma'am."