Film

Clifford

Name: Clifford
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1994
Cast: Martin Short, Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen, Dabney Coleman, Richard Kind

Comedy

A 1994 comedy about an engineer whose bratty nephew arrives for a visit and drives him to increasingly unhinged desperation. Martin Short plays the kid as a gleeful small tyrant; Charles Grodin plays the exasperated adult losing his grip. It's broadly physical, heavily plotted, and strictly for people who find a child's relentless awfulness hilarious rather than exhausting.

TMDb rating

2.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy broad, physical farce where a grown man's dignity gets steadily shredded by a child, and you like Martin Short's manic commitment to a bit.

Skip it if you want a tight, plot-driven comedy, since this is loosely built and happy to repeat the same gag about a bratty kid and his exasperated uncle.

What it asks of you: Under ninety minutes long, it moves at a brisk clip, with broad slapstick escalating steadily and almost no room for quiet reflection.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Dennis the Menace1993

Released the year before, this hits the same note: a kid turns an adult's world upside down through innocent chaos. Scott Calvin is likeable enough that his torture carries warmth. The setup is simpler and the sentiment sweeter.

But If you don't find a child's single-minded persistence adorable rather than grating, ninety minutes of it will wear you down fast.

Uncle Buck1989

John Candy as a chaotic uncle sent to mind three kids. The difference is Candy's warmth—he's mischievous, not malicious. The film loves both the chaos and the secret good heart underneath.

But It leans harder on sentiment than Clifford does, which softens the comedy if you wanted pure exasperation instead.

Home Alone1990

Another kid-centered comedy, but here the kid is the hero of his own story. MacCaulay Culkin's resourcefulness and sass make him charming rather than hateful. The escalation into absurdity is genuinely clever.

But It's pitched to families and leans on sweetness. If you wanted darker comedy about a kid wearing an adult down, this goes the opposite direction.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Clifford

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Little Man2006

Both films build comedy around a small person as a destabilizing force in an adult world, but Little Man treats it as genre pastiche rather than domestic chaos.

The Wayans Brothers' comedy riff on buddy-cop movies: a tiny criminal masquerades as an infant to con his way to a diamond. It's a genre parody with Clifford's anarchic energy—a kid-sized chaos agent destroying order—but filtered through action-movie tropes instead of family comedy.

But It's aggressively silly in a way that feels dated. If you need plausibility or emotional grounding, this has neither and doesn't apologize.

Beethoven1992

A St. Bernard brings chaos to a comfortable household. Like Clifford, it's about someone's ordered life demolished by an uncontrollable presence. The tone is wild and silly without pretending to sense.

But The chaos is supplied by a dog, not a person, which shifts the emotional stakes entirely. Less uncomfortable, more forgiving.

Look Who's Talking1989

A baby who talks creates mayhem in a grown man's apartment. Bruce Willis voices the infant narration. It's episodic, antic, and never bothers with plausibility—pure silly-movie energy.

But It dates badly. The humor feels stranded in the late '80s in ways that work against you rather than with you.

Baby's Day Out1994

Came out the same year as Clifford. A toddler escapes and wreaks havoc across Chicago. The physical comedy is inventive and the destruction is gleefully total.

But The baby is adorable by design, so there's no edge. You're rooting for the chaos, not watching someone suffer it.

Babes in Toyland1986

A loose, silly comedy about Pat and Danny trying to look after two kids. Chevy Chase and John Goodman are appealing idiots. The film doesn't take anything seriously for even a moment.

But It's genuinely chaotic in ways that feel accidental rather than intentional. The plot barely holds together, which annoys some viewers more than it amuses them.

The Sitter1991

Jonah Hill wasn't in it, but Patrick Stewart is hilarious as a man forced to babysit. It's about the collision between adult sophistication and childish chaos. Stewart's forbearance is the joke.

But It relies on broad slapstick that doesn't always land. Some of the humor feels like it's working harder than it should have to.

The Phantom of the Opera1990

Both are studies in how an unwanted presence erodes someone's composure and sanity—Clifford through slapstick, Phantom through gothic dread.

A miniseries that sounds completely unrelated—a dark romance about obsession and manipulation—but it shares something crucial with Clifford: the pleasure of watching someone civilized gradually unravel under relentless pressure. The Phantom's control slips in increments; Grodin's does too.

But It's Gothic melodrama about suffering and revenge. If you want comedy, this is tonal whiplash. The pacing is also glacial by modern standards.

The War of the Roses1989

Both films find dark humor in watching order collapse and civilized people abandon all restraint—Clifford innocent about it, Roses completely knowing.

Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in a dark comedy about a marriage that implodes into mutual sabotage. Grodin's exasperation at Clifford has a twisted mirror here: Danny DeVito narrates two people trying to destroy each other with the same gleeful precision the kid brings to his chaos.

But It's not a comedy in the laugh-track sense. It's ugly, mean-spirited, and increasingly violent. If you wanted light entertainment, this is the opposite.