You’d certainly call “Clifford the Big Red Dog” a “cute” movie.
The adaptation of late author Norman Bridwell’s enduring book series about a large, crimson-colored pooch and his young owner — whom he based so many years ago on his own daughter — debuts this week in theaters and on streaming service Paramount+ with plenty of heart and good cheer.
This isn’t likely to be an instant family classic, but you simply can’t overlook all that cuteness. (It probably isn’t fair to note that the beautifully rendered titular animal character is at his cutest for the brief period he is a tiny puppy — really adorable — so we won’t mention it.)
As we are told by our narrator — a magical animal rescuer named after Bridwell and portrayed by veteran actor John Cleese — “Clifford” takes place in an “island full of wonder,” aka New York City, and involves two souls who do not yet know how much they need each other.
First, we meet Clifford, out of sight and left behind in a warehouse after some animal-control folks scratch up his mom and siblings. Visually striking in a way the rest of his family isn’t, the dog whimpers and howls upon realizing he has been left alone. Fortunately, he soon is able to wriggle under a door and escape into the city, where he is found by the kind-hearted Mr. Bridwell.
And then we have Emily Elizabeth Howard (Darby Camp). The middle-schooler is being called “Food Stamp” by a mean schoolmate because Emily Elizabeth is attending a prestigious private school on a scholarship, and her busy single mom, Maggie (Sienna Guillory), wants her to learn to stick up for herself.
Because Maggie’s job will be taking her to Chicago for a few days, Emily Elizabeth may instead learn some lessons from her irresponsible uncle, Casey (Jack Whitehall), who is out of work and living in a van while he is, um, between places.
Emily Elizabeth certainly isn’t excited about getting quality Casey time.
“I lost you ONCE,” Casey says. “Twice if you count Atlantic City. But I won you back!”
Casey really does not want to let his sister down this time. And as he walks Emily Elizabeth to school in the morning, he knows he shouldn’t let her go into Bridwell’s carnival-like tent full of animals looking for a home. He relents, though, because he wants to win her over.
There she meets a certain very cute — and tiny — puppy, and asks how big he’s likely to grow.
“It depends on how much you love him,” he answers.
Casey sticks to his guns in refusing to let her take the little guy home. However, mysteriously — and possibly magically — come with them to Maggie’s apartment the dog who will come to be known as Clifford does.
Before newly responsible Casey can see that Clifford is returned to Bridwell the next morning, however, the dog grows to be 10 feet high in a matter of hours.
That’s a lot of love.
Casey, Emily Elizabeth and a classmate with a crush on her, Owen (Isaac Wang) — who is beyond stoked that she even knows his name — look for Bridwell, who they hope can shrink Clifford. Meanwhile, Clifford becomes a viral sensation as he makes friends in the Big Apple and, well, relieves himself against a tree in the park.
“I hope I’m not around for number two,” Casey deadpans.
Unfortunately, Clifford also draws the attention of Zack Tieren (Tony Hale), the president of LyfeGrow, a company that already has spent $400 million in a so-far fruitless attempt to create larger food to feed the world. He believes something in Clifford’s DNA may hold a key to LyfeGrow’s success, and he doesn’t care what he has to do to get him.
According to the movie’s production notes, Hollywood producer Jordan Kerner has wanted to make a “Clifford” adaptation for nearly two decades. To write it, he tapped collaborators from “The Smurfs and “The Smurfs 2,” Jay Scherick and David Ronn, as well as Blaise Hemingway (“Playmobil: The Movie”). The movie is helmed by “Wild Hogs” and “Old Dogs” director Walt Becker, whose more kid-friendly credit is 2015’s “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.”
They’ve all contributed to making a movie that checks all the necessary boxes but falls a little short in the areas of story and emotional resonance.
Its namesake four-legged character is a delight, of course. He feels pretty real for a 10-foot-tall red dog, a credit to the film’s effects folks.
While you’ll root for Emily Elizabeth, to be sure, she never feels like a girl in need of all that much help. Yes, she is picked on at school, but she’s outgoing enough to have made friends with myriad adults in her neighborhood. There isn’t much of an arc for her, ultimately, but Camp (“The Christmas Chronicles,” “Big Little Lies”) is enjoyable all the same.
Whitehall (“Jungle Cruise,” “Bad Education”) gets a few laughs with his Jim-from-”The Office” vibes.
On the other end of the spectrum, it feels like the writers did not want to make Zack TOO evil, and, as a result, the talented Hale (“Arrested Development,” “Veep”) is only so impactful a villain.
Similarly, “Clifford the Big Red Dog” is only so impactful, but it may bring the occasional tear to your eye when the hour is darkest for Clifford and Emily. All that cuteness surely will lead to a few smiles for you and your pups.
‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’
Where: Theaters and Paramount+.
When: Nov. 10.
Rated: PG for impolite humor, thematic elements and mild action.
Runtime: 1 hour, 36 minutes.
Stars (of four): 2.5.
