Father Clifford Daniels Martin Short is a kindly-looking priest at a Catholic school in 2050 who sits down with Roger to share a long memory that explains his own misadventures as a child. In the 1990s, the young Clifford is loud, irritating, and stubborn, clutching a toy dinosaur named Steffen and dreaming of a place called Dinosaur World in Los Angeles. A flight with his parents turns chaotic when he deliberately causes an emergency landing in Los Angeles, caught up in a reckless streak that will echo through the story.
Clifford’s tale shifts to his family history: his father Julien Daniels is a hard-driving businessman, and his uncle Martin Daniels [Charles Grodin] is a famous architect who works for Gerald Ellis [Dabney Coleman]. Martin hopes to marry his coworker, Sarah Davis [Mary Steenburgen], even though she longs for a family. Cliff’s misbehaving ways threaten to derail everyone’s plans, and Julian phones Martin to arrange a temporary guardianship for Clifford in Los Angeles. Martin, eager to prove his ability to connect with kids, believes this is his chance to win Sarah’s approval, unaware of how deeply Clifford’s antics will entangle them all.
At a gas station, Clifford’s schemes backfire when he tries to sneak away disguised as another boy’s son, and Martin catches him. The planned Dinosaur World trip is canceled, but Clifford’s power to disrupt remains intact. The boy’s provocations escalate, leading to a stunt during Sarah’s parents’ wedding anniversary that lands Martin in trouble after Clifford engineers a fake bomb threat to City Hall by manipulating Martin’s message on an answering machine. Released on bail, Martin confronts Clifford, insisting on a genuine confession, and the cycle of manipulation and punishment continues.
Clifford masterminds a plan to lure Martin onto a train bound for San Francisco, hoping to separate the couple and push the Dinosaur World visit back into play. Meanwhile, Sarah travels with Ellis’s orders to seduce her way into a new partnership, but Clifford’s schemes persist, including a party at home that attracts strangers and promises a ride to Dinosaur World as the reward. When Martin returns, he finds Clifford tied up in his room; Sarah eventually frees him and takes him away, complicating Martin’s life even further.
The feud peaks when Martin arrives late to Ellis’s transit presentation, only to discover the city model rigged by Clifford; the dramatic model explodes, costing Martin his job and throwing him into a rage about the consequences of Clifford’s rebellious impulse. Desperate, Martin abducts Clifford after hours and drags him to Dinosaur World, where he forces the boy onto Larry the Scary Rex. The ride speeds up, and a malfunction leaves Clifford dangling inches from the mechanical jaws of the dinosaur. Martin rants about the damage caused, yet he risks his life to pull Clifford to safety. The moment of crisis shifts their relationship, but Martin’s harsh judgment lingers as Clifford’s fear and guilt begin to crystallize.
Back with Roger, Father Clifford recounts how devastating it was to hear those words and to face the truth of his own behavior. He describes writing 287 apology letters to Martin, all of which were returned unopened. When Roger asks about Sarah, Clifford reveals that she and Martin eventually married, and he attended their wedding as the ring bearer. In a final gesture of forgiveness, Sarah helps bridge the old wounds, and Martin forgives Clifford with a kiss on the head.
Moved by the story, Roger resolves to follow Clifford’s example and write 287 letters seeking forgiveness himself. As the tale closes, Father Clifford withdraws Steffen from his pocket and mutters, “Mission accomplished, old friend,” signaling a quiet victory through understanding, reconciliation, and a renewed faith in the power of apology.
> If you destroy everyone who stands in the way of your dreams, then you'll end up alone with no dreams left.
