A 1980 American Family Comedy Drama directed by Tony Bill that has a boy (Chris Makepeace) dealing with a bully (Matt Dillon) with a bodyguard (Adam Baldwin).
The movie also stars Martin Mull, Ruth Gordon, Paul Quandt, Richard Bradley, Tin Reyna, Dean R Miller, Richard Cusack, Joan Cusack, and Kathryn Grody.
It was released July 11, 1980.
Tropes for the film:
- The Alcoholic: Clifford's grandmother is one, and she's constantly hitting on men at the hotel Clifford's father runs, which causes him no end of headaches.
- Alliterative Name: Melvin Moody.
- And Starring: Adam Baldwin gets an "And Introducing" credit.
- Bully Brutality: The main bully, Melvin Moody, assaults Clifford Peache, so much that he hires a fellow classmate as his bodyguard, prompting to get his own Psycho for Hire, a grown-ass adult who pummels the bodyguard and wrecks his motorcycle before a whole crowd of onlookers. Later Clifford and his bodyguard rematch the villains in another brutal, public fistfight that one would expect to draw the attention of the local police's gang taskforce.
- Ironic Echo: At the end, after Clifford has triumphed over Moody, and Linderman beats Moody's Psycho for Hire, Linderman asks Clifford to be his bodyguard, using the same lines Clifford used when he asked him.
- It's All My Fault: Near the end of the movie, Linderman finally admits to Clifford he and his brother were fooling around with his father's gun, and when Linderman tried to pull it away, he accidentally shot his brother, which he blames himself for.
- Naughty Birdwatching: Clifford and his father use a telescope to spy on people in other buildings from the balcony of their hotel suite.
- Tagline: "I'm tired of being terrorized in the toilets, chased after school, and shaken down for my lunch money. Will you be my bodyguard?".
- Teach Me How To Fight: The plot has some of this.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: The climactic final fight, in which the title character, having faced an adult professional goon brought in by the bully coaches Clifford who hired him into fighting and defeating the bully for himself.
