The social atmosphere of high school doesn’t do kids with low self-esteem any favors, and even the systems in place to support them offer little respite. Director Azazel Jacobs makes some acute observations on this front with Terri as he explores the relationship between an overly nonchalant teenager and two other students, and his school’s guidance counselor who walks a fine line between being an adult and a friend. The characters develop nicely and the story proceeds with a great rhythm until it loses itself in an uncertain ending that doesn’t capitalize on the groundwork painstakingly laid in the film’s front two thirds.
To say that Terri (Jacob Wysocki) has a hard time fitting in at high school would be a gross understatement; lacking the typical home life of a nuclear or even divorced family, Terri lives with his Uncles James (Creed Bratton of The Office) who fluctuates between lucidity, deep sleep, and a consciousness somewhere in between. The living conditions run the border between squalor and homey, but whatever you call it has soaked in to Terri’s mentality and left him with an easygoing attitude that makes it hard for him to concentrate on caring too much about small things like personal appearance or his own social life. It’s gotten so bad that, whether due to his weight or a general lack of concern, Terri wears pajamas to school and consistently arrives late. His tardiness eventually catches the attention of the guidance counselor Mr. Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly) whose efforts at creating an honest relationship with Terri are sabotaged by his duties as a counselor to say what needs to be said to get Terri back on the “right” track. The depth of their relationship grows as they bond around two other students, Chad (Bridger Zadina) and Heather (Olivia Crocicchia), a problem student and a popular girl recently embarrassed and marginalized in the span of a day.
Newcomer Jacob Wysocki successfully conveys Terri’s entrapment in a state of emotional limbo. Forced to act as the caregiver to his uncle and take on a burden of responsibility he isn’t necessarily mature enough to handle, Terri has adopted a distant air making it hard to connect with other students, positively or negatively. Wysocki’s performance puts Terri as an emotional neutral zone and the perfect measuring stick for Reilly’s adrift loner, Zadina’s fiery rebel, and Crocicchia’s despondent pariah. He’s at the central of the other three characters’ personality venn diagram and his interactions with each of them are sublime. Unfortunately, to further Terri’s relationship with Chad and Heather, Writer/Director Jacobs dialed back the time spent with Reilly in Terri’s final third which makes the chemistry between Wysocki and Reilly up to that point feel negligible despite the fact that it was the turning point for Terri’s social development.
It’s easy to criticize the stagnation of the most promising character arc, but in truth Terri does what it set out to do: showing different types of isolation and how people compensate. Terri indulges in his newfound fascination with death, Chad engages in self-mutilation and rude outbursts, Heather gives in to her boyfriend’s pressure for a public display of sexuality, and Mr. Fitzgerald attempts to play the “cool” teacher and foster friendships with his students in place of the adult relationships that have fallen out around him. Azazel’s characterizations are done well, and even if Mr. Fitzgerald is unnecessarily written into the sidelines, it’s exploration of that classic sense of teenage isolation has three terrific advocates in Wysocki, Zadina, and Crocicchia.
Terri’s one of the more human narratives to get a large release this summer, and amidst the cacophony of blockbuster noise and bluster, it’s a refreshingly grounded and well acted drama. John C. Reilly reminds us why he’s such a great actor, but Jacob Wysocki manages to hold his own and stands strong as the film’s true lead, just as the story intended. If you’re looking for a solid drama, Terri’s a sure bet.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
A decent but quick behind-the-scenes featurette is the main attraction here, and some deleted scenes round out the paltry offering.
"Terri" is on sale October 11, 2011 and is rated R. Directed by Azazel Jacobs. Written by Patrick Dewitt (screenplay), Azazel Jacobs (story). Starring Bridger Zadina, Jacob Wysocki, John C Reilly, Olivia Crocicchia.
