Terri

Terri (Jacob Wysocki) has been dealt a rough hand. A heavy-set teenager with more than a touch of social anxiety, Terri finds school to be a hellhole where he goes unnoticed (when he's lucky). His home life is not much better. He doesn't know where either of his parents are and he lives with his uncle (Creed Batton) who is slipping further and further into dementia. When he gets in trouble for firing back at one of his many mockers, the school's principal, Mr. Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly), sees a kid who desperately needs a friend. He sets up weekly meetings with Terri and attempts to take the boy under his wing. But the many years of loneliness have taken a toll on Terri and despite the influence of Mr. Fitzgerald, transitioning into a fully functioning member of high school society proves more difficult than originally thought.

There is serious promise to be found within Terri. Up-and-coming director Azazel Jacobs has a firm handle on his subject matter and he works hard to show Terri for the good hearted boy that he is. It is a very simple and understated film (more on this in a minute) as Jacobs lets his protagonist move at his own pace. You can see why so many respected critics have identified Jacobs as a name to watch in the future. Wysocki himself gives an honest performance and displays solid chops for a kid who has almost no acting experience. He makes it easy to identify with Terri and that brings about a sense of natural empathy that is essential to the film's success. Likewise, Reilly is a perfect choice for the would-be-cool principal who tries extremely hard to be relevant and accessible to his students but can't quite make it work. The relationship between Terri and Fitzgerald is poignant and heartfelt and without question their shared scenes are the best of the film.

When Terri diverts from its main storyline, however, it tends to bog down. What starts out as sympathy for Terri eventually turns into near depression as his narrative struggles to find an upswing. His interactions with his friends Chad (Bridger Zadina) and Heather (Olivia Crocicchia) are tenuous and never fully realize the potential they have together resulting in a choppy feel that I never could quite shake. Jacobs adds very little in the way of production value, too, and while I can appreciate that sort of simplicity, in this case a pronounced soundtrack and the like would have added to the experience. I found myself growing bored with Terri and had a hard time staying invested when Terri and Fitzgerald weren't on screen together. That's a real shame because I really wanted to care about Terri's relationships with Chad, Heather, and his uncle but Jacobs story didn't quite give me enough reason to get there. With a little more focus, Terri would be a touching and possibly even uplifting coming-of-age vision based around the Terri-Fitzgerald dynamic. Instead, it becomes too dull and convoluted for my tastes and limited my ability to stay connected.

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As we know, high school can be a difficult and challenging place for even the most socially adaptive student. For those who are different in one way or another, it can be misery, and alienated students do not always find a compassionate counselor or friend to steer them through the tough times. In the movies, however, it is often a different story. We have seen several films recently about teens that have lost their way but somehow find the perfect mentor to support them. The latest example of this is Terri, a new film by Azazel Jacobs, whose 2008 Momma's Man, was a work of rare honesty about a recently married man who falls into a psychological paralysis that keeps him from accepting the reality of his adult life.

Though the genre of teen misfits has been done before, Terri looks at the situation from a different vantage point and the result is a film of unusual freshness. Based on a screenplay Jacobs wrote with novelist Patrick Dewitt, Terri brings together an unlikely friendship between Terri (Jacob Wysocki), a heavily over-sized parentless teenager who lives with his Uncle James (Creed Bratton) who is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's, Chad (Bridger Zadina), a skinny, androgynous-looking youth with a high-pitched squeaky voice who directs his anger towards himself by pulling his hair out, and Heather ((Olivia Crocicchia), an attractive girl who has developed an unfortunate reputation around school for inappropriate sexual acting out.

Terri is consistently late to school and comes to class dressed in pajamas because he feels they are more comfortable. He is constantly teased and bullied by those who do not understand (and perhaps never will) the meaning of empathy. His behavior, while otherwise normal, can be bizarre. When his uncle asks him to set traps for mice in their attic, Terri takes the traps out into a wooded area near his suburban home and gleefully watches the dead mice being torn to shreds by devouring falcons. His tardiness and odd behavior draws the attention of the school's vice-principal Mr. Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly) who sets up sessions with Terri each week for counseling. Attempting to play the role of buddy rather than authority figure, Fitzgerald calls Terri "dude", uses "hip" language, and exchanges high-fives, but his behavior often feels strained.

Terri learns to appreciate the attention he is given, however, and, though he is tight lipped at the beginning of the meetings, he slowly begins to open up and express his feelings. Fitzgerald also has his problems at home and is not averse to sharing them with Terri. His sharing about his personal life, however inappropriate it may be for a school administrator, does provide a more level playing field and a closer relationship grows between the two people struggling to make sense of the world. An awkward late night party at Terri's house filled with drugs, alcohol, and sexual experimentation could have become a disaster, except for Terri's new found sense of self that allows him to know intuitively when to back off.

There are few dramatic movements in Terri, no sudden insights, and no startling epiphanies backed by the swelling chords of an orchestra. There is, rather, simply a growing ability of the characters to see beyond their differences to discover their common humanity. While the question of what Terri can do to lose some weight is oddly never brought up either by his mentor or his friends, Terri is a sweet, tender, and very observant film about young people coming to terms with the reality of their being different. It is not a cruel film in the slightest but one that conveys a sincere affection for its troubled characters, and the natural performances of Wysocki, Zadina, and Crocicchia make it a film to remember and cherish.

Terri (Jacob Wysocki) is a misfit who comes to school in his pajamas. He lives with his spaced out uncle (Creed Bratton). His vice principal Mr Fitzgerald (Jon C. Reilly) tries to reach out to him. Terri becomes friends with two other misfits. Chad (Bridger Zadina) is an angry wired loner, and Heather (Olivia Crocicchia) is the disgraced beautiful girl who got caught in a sexually permissive situation while in class.

Jacob Wysocki is playing a very low energy character. They have to figure out how to show that character in a compelling manner. Watching him getting picked on all the time wasn't such a fun watch. Bridger Zadina has a nice role as the energetic crazy little guy. I think it would have been better to start the movie with them as friends. At least the movie would have the energy to drive it along. Olivia Crocicchia does a good job as the girl. The big scene feels voyeuristic. But all three kids play their roles well. It's an odd little film. I just wish they showed what happened to their friendship after that night.

Having watched this film without any idea what it was about, I was completely surprised by it. It was a film similar to Napoleon Dynamite but yet it was in a class of it's own. I found myself glued to it, it both captivated and left me wanting more from it. At no point did I want to turn it off, the comedy was just perfect but not in a take the mickey way, it just worked. It's been a while since I have seen a film of this finesse and it does a good job of showing how hard life can be if you that little bit different, whilst showing the side of life rarely seen for a person who is a carer. A large body, a large heart and a large round of applause to the script writers and of course Terri himself.

Terri is just not your average movie. I can understand why some do not like this: you have to let yourself in on it. At first I was not immediately carried away, but as the story continues I slowly but surely got sucked in.

I would not call it a comedy at all, though some scenes made me smile. It touches on subjects which keep your mind occupied on that age (and later too, though different;-).

The movie shows lessons of life which some learn early in their life, others have to live through and never learn. It shows us we can make mistakes, we will, and we even have to if we want to "learn life".

I understood it got a more restricted rating than the average action movie. I can only think it has to do with the sexual subjects it contains, but I think it is done in such a way that you can only learn good things from it if you're young.

Cinematography does not do anything new, but it's a lot better and fitting than the shaky camera's of the 100 million dollar movies that came out lately.

So, lessons in life here!