Terri Review
By David Kempler
Large Nerd High School Tribulations
Directed by Azazel Jacobs, "Terri" focuses on a high school kid who doesn't quite fit in, not in the way you and I didn't fit in. No one fits in, in high school except for the captain of the football team and the head cheerleader, and we hated them, right? Terri (Jacob Wysocki) is a hulking but overweight gentle giant, who wears pajamas to school. Could he do any more to insure that he be singled out for ridicule? Yet, all things considered, he is for the most part accepted, more ignored than made fun of.
His home life is no more uplifting than his school life. He shares the house with Uncle James (Breed Bratton), who has some major issues that make him alternate between near comatose and functional enough to sometimes carry on a conversation.
Terri becomes part of the
club that consists of oddball students who wander in and out of the principal's office, so that they can be given special attention. The principal, Mr. Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly), meets with Terri on a weekly basis, as he does with the others who take turns visiting him.
Terri is befriended by the hot chick of the school after he comes to her rescue when she gets embroiled in a situation that almost leads to her being thrown out of high school. Her evolving character takes some very unexpected turns that drive "Terri" when it hits its most powerful scenes.
What makes "Terri" stand out from the pack is a combination of fine performances by the young Wysocki and Reilly, as well as subdued directing that creates a sensibility of underplayed realism, despite some fairly unrealistic situations that unfold.
My only confusion was wondering whether I was supposed to wonder if the lead character was gay or perhaps even if the actor portraying him was gay. I suppose it's not important, but in a film as understated as this you start to wonder whether you might have missed something. The good news is that even if something flies past you, there is a great deal to sink your teeth into here.
