Video Review: 'Clifford'

You know in the first 10 minutes that the movie will end with sociopathic 10-year-old Clifford (Martin Short, who’s shown mostly from the waist up) finally making it to Dinosaurworld, the theme park featuring a ride designed by his kid- averse babysitting uncle (Charles Grodin). You also know every tired bad-boy gag in the script, which plays like outtakes from the Problem Child and National Lampoon’s Vacation movies. But who’d guess that when this sub-sitcom mess meanders to a payoff, it would turn so mean-spirited? Forget the family-friendly promos: When Short climbs into the Larry the Scary Rex ride and Grodin sends him through several times, till the malfunctioning dino nearly kills him, not only is it not funny, it’s not healthy. D