Clifford the Big Red Dog

Clifford the Big Red Dog
Original title:Clifford the Big Red Dog
Director:Walt Becker
Release:Cinema
Running time:96 minutes
Release date:10 november 2021
Rating:
Emily Elizabeth, a young college student, receives a gift from a magician with an adorable little red dog. What a surprise when she wakes up the next day in her small New York City apartment to find the same dog has become... giant! With her single mother away on business, Emily embarks on a whimsical and unpredictable adventure through the Big Apple with her Uncle Casey. Adapted from the beloved character in the popular Scholastic book series, Clifford will teach the world a great lesson in love!

Mulder's Review

To Neron,

The holidays are a great time to discover modern tales like Clifford. While this film won't revolutionize fantasy comedy, it reminds us that it's still possible to make films that celebrate the strong bond between a child or adult and their pet, no matter how big or small. Based on the series of children's books of the same name by Norman Bridwell, the film by Walt Becker (Van Wilder (2002), Wild Hogs (2007), Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (2017)) on a screenplay by Jay Scherick, David Ronn, Blaise Hemingway succeeds as much in making us laugh several times but also in moving us by its sincerity and its willingness to deliver a story that celebrates the importance of our pets. 

We discover the young schoolgirl Emily Elizabeth Howard (Darby Camp) who with her uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) meet a strange character Mr. Bridwell (John Cleeese) an animal rescuer who owns a huge tent in a New York park. He gives Emily Elizabeth a little red puppy, Clifford. Clifford magically grows into a giant ten-foot dog in her apartment while her single mother is away on business and has left her brother in charge of Emily Elizabeth. While Emily Elizabeth and Casey have to deal with the many disasters caused by Clifford, things get even more complicated when the owner of a biotech company called Lyfegro, Zac Tieran (Tony Hale) wants Clifford back to experiment on him.

While some American family comedies tend to try to reproduce successful films and thus lose their charm and become simple marketing products without originality, Clifford (Clifford the Big Red Dog) manages to give us a good time and especially benefits from careful special effects to make this giant dog credible. By keeping a universe close to reality and injecting a dose of fantasy, this film succeeds in moving us and showing us the importance of pets in our lives to make it easier and make us forget the current situation related to a global pandemic. 

Clifford also shows the importance of pets to help young children who lack confidence in each other to have a pet that can receive their love and accompany them in their ordinary life. It is no coincidence that Clifford, as shown in the first scene of the film, is an orphaned puppy who lost his brothers and mother to the pound. Emily Elizabeth has no father and has difficulty integrating into the school because of a lack of confidence in herself. Clifford's presence will not only change her life but also give her back her confidence. The film is certainly intended for a young audience but it will also hold the interest of adults who have kept their childlike soul. 

The strong idea of the film is that one must know how to fight for a just cause and believe in oneself to be able to hold the attention of the world around us. It is easy to understand the difficulty of bringing to life a character who is very well known in the United States, Clifford, and whose many books about him have won the hearts of readers around the world. The result is an undeniable success even if we would have liked a little more craziness in this story and a little less political correctness.  The result is a quality entertainment, if not unforgettable, that will make you have a good time at the movies.

Clifford the Big Red Dog
Directed by Walt Becker
Screenplay by Jay Scherick, David Ronn, Blaise Hemingway
Story by Justin Malen, Ellen Rapoport
Based on Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
Produced by Jordan Kerner, Iole Lucchese
Starring Jack Whitehall, Darby Camp, Tony Hale, Sienna Guillory, David Alan Grier, Russell Wong, John Cleese
Cinematography : Peter Lyons Collister
Edited by Sabrina Plisco
Music by John Debney
Production companies : Entertainment One, New Republic Pictures, Scholastic Entertainment, The Kerner Entertainment Company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures (United States), Entertainment One (Canada and United Kingdom)
Release date : August 26, 2021 (CinemaCon), November 10, 2021 (United States), December 1, 2021 (France)
Running time : 96 minutes

Seen on November 10, 2021 

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