Clifford The Big Red Dog, is about a young girl Elizabeth (Darby Camp) who is uncomfortable in a private school filled with kids who are more wealthy and worldly than she it. The idea of the film is to make her more confident with herself using the big red dog as a foil to those who look down on her and to show her pure love.
Her uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) who lives in the back of a panel truck parked on the streets of New York is the last but necessary choice to care for Elizabeth when her mother (Sienna Guillory) must take a business trip. Uncle Casey brings almost as much comedy to the film as does Clifford.
The romping of the big red dog who grows ten or twelve feet overnight will keep kids laughing. He is drawn to move like a new puppy but one that probably weighs 300 pounds. Puppy movement in that large body can only function as we would expect, he destroys nearly everything in site.
John Cleese is the magical animal rescuer who appears to provide the magic that allows Clifford to become ‘Big.’
Not much new here, and not much to dislike, it’s silly, has a little mystic quality, likable characters-even when they mess things up and of course a bad guy Zack (Tony Hale) who wants to capture Clifford and learn how to use his quick growing secret.
Expectedly all comes out well, as Clifford and the kids, uncle and mom appear to be headed toward a happily ever-after life with the Big Red Dog.