Clifford the Big Red Dog

Directed by Walt Becker, Clifford the Big Red Dog follows a young girl (Darby Camp’s Emily) as she adopts a little puppy that eventually grows to an enormous size. Filmmaker Becker, armed with a script by Jay Scherick, David Ronn, and Blaise Hemingway, delivers an affable (albeit entirely forgettable) family-friendly comedy that benefits from its brisk pace and assortment of appealing, charismatic performances, with, in terms of the latter, Camp’s agreeable turn as the sympathetic protagonist certainly matched by eclectic periphery players like Tony Hale, Kenan Thompson, and John Cleese. (Jack Whitehall’s scene-stealing turn as Emily’s ne’er-do-well uncle remains an ongoing highlight within the proceedings, to be sure.) And while the picture never becomes quite as compelling (or funny) as Becker has undoubtedly intended, Clifford the Big Red Dog generally remains pleasant and watchable enough for the duration of its appropriately (and appreciatively) brief running time.

**1/2 out of ****