Azazel Jacobs’ Terri is a high school loner drama/comedy that actually manages to draw some originality out of its relatively tired genre. Through strong performances, interesting characters and an original story line, Terri succeeds where so many like–minded movies have fallen short.
Terri Thomson (Wysocki) is a misfit by nature — aptly communicated by the film’s opening shot, as his intensely overweight body sits jammed in his cramped bathtub. Unaware of the whereabouts of his parents, he lives with and cares for his stern, but mentally– deteriorating Uncle James (Creed Bratton). At school, he faces the steady ridicule of his classmates, while having no genuine friends to spend time with. It seems like the only comfort he can get out of life comes from the sets of pajamas that he wears all day long.
Eventually, Terri’s principal, the buddy–buddy Mr. Fitzgerald (Reilly), pals up to him in hopes of helping the teen out of his funk. Assuring Terri that he is “one of the good–hearted kids”, Fitzgerald sets aside time to meet with him every week. Terri strikes an unlikely friendship with another one of Mr. Fitzgerald’s regulars — the abrasive Chad, essentially a mangy stray cat in teen outcast form.
At times, Terri sits rather ungracefully balanced on the line between drama and comedy — it tries its hand at both moods, but doesn’t manage to get an absolute grasp on either. One minute your heart sinks for Terri as a classmate grabs his chest and obnoxiously honks, and the next you’re cackling as Chad wreaks havoc at a funeral.
It’s not to say that tears and laughter can’t inhabit the same movie — it’s just that here, the emotional rhythm of the story can be so disjointed that at times you don’t even know how you’re supposed to feel for the characters involved.
And by the final scenes, there are a few too many loose ends and unresolved story points to provide the film with a truly satisfying ending. It’s becomes clear that Jacobs is much more interested in crafting a quirky character study of oddballs and misfits than he is in a succinct and effective narrative.
But at the end of the day, none of these shortcomings can take too much away from the Terri’s poignantly comical performances and refreshingly unconventional script. Almost all of the individual parts are there to make Terri a great movie, but their faulty placement is what ultimately brings the film down.
Sure, Terri might earn the runner up for Prom King – the disappointment is that it could’ve gone home with the crown.
Terri Directed by: Azazel Jacobs Starring: John C. Reilly, Jacob Wysocki, Bridger Zadina Rated R, 105 min.
