The extent to which James Franco channels what is hilarious about him, while also maintaining the humanity to make this a fully formed character, makes this one of the best comedic experiences in quite some time.
If you take out the parts where the clown exposes rows of teeth that would make a great white shark envious and uses them to rip limbs off little children, this is basically just a sweet coming of age story. Think ET, but with the occasional mangled seven-year-old.