The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Clifford the Big Red Dog
Family · Adventure · Comedy · 2021
As Emily struggles to fit in at home and at school, she discovers a small red puppy who is destined to become her best friend. When Clifford magically undergoes one heck of a growth spurt, becomes a gigantic dog and attracts the attention of a genetics company, Emily and her Uncle Casey have to fight the forces of greed as they go on the run across New York City. Along the way, Clifford affects the lives of everyone around him and teaches Emily and her uncle the true meaning of acceptance and unconditional love.
Movie details
Clifford the Big Red Dog
“Adventure has never been bigger.”
2021 Family · Adventure · Comedy 1h 36m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
5.9 / 10
18.6K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
58 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
55 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
7.2 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
As Emily struggles to fit in at home and at school, she discovers a small red puppy who is destined to become her best friend. When Clifford magically undergoes one heck of a growth spurt, becomes a gigantic dog and attracts the attention of a genetics company, Emily and her Uncle Casey have to fight the forces of greed as they go on the run across New York City. Along the way, Clifford affects the lives of everyone around him and teaches Emily and her uncle the true meaning of acceptance and unconditional love.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Clifford the Big Red Dog?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
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When a powerful spell turns her parents into giant monsters, a teenage princess must journey into the wild to reverse the curse before it's too late.
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Shrek
Animation · 2001
It ain't easy bein' green -- especially if you're a likable (albeit smelly) ogre named Shrek. On a mission to retrieve a gorgeous princess from the clutches of a fire-breathing dragon, Shrek teams up with an unlikely compatriot -- a wisecracking donkey.
Animal Crackers
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Rugrats Go Wild
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When the Rugrats find themselves stranded on a deserted island, they meet the Thornberrys, a family who agrees to help them escape.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Walt Becker
Written by
Blaise Hemingway · Justin Malen · Ellen Rapoport · David Ronn
Darby Camp
Emily Elizabeth
Jack Whitehall
Casey
Izaac Wang
Owen Yu
John Cleese
Mr. Bridwell
Tony Hale
Zack Tieran
David Alan Grier
Packard
Paul Rodríguez
Sanchez
Court is in session
Put Clifford the Big Red Dog on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.