Terri
Angelika Film Centre, July 15, 2011
Movie #45 for 2011
Terri (JACOB WYSOCKI, TV’s “Huge”) is an overweight teenager, and fairly disenfranchised from his peers - except for three judgmental girls in Home Ec, he doesn’t seem to have any friends. He lives with - and cares for - his uncle (CREED BRATTON, from “The US Office” who is surprisingly good) who is unwell and often sedated. Teri’s vice principal (JOHN C. REILLY, pictured with Wysocki) reaches out to him but reveals himself to be little more grown up than Terri or Chad, the school's angry and sexually frustrated 'bad kid' (played by BRIDGER ZADINA who would be a shoe-in for Atreyu if they remake The Never Ending Story).
I like the way that Terri is ultimately an enigmatic and malleable character - he’s engaging, then repulsive; sympathetic and then offensive - but that makes for an awkward, and ultimately unsatisfying viewing experience. I felt like Terri’s quirkiness is a little overdone - he’s isolated and different from his peers in so many and varying ways that he became alienating to me, too. Perhaps that's the point?
I was fairly uncomfortable with a few of the ideas in the film, too - the vice principal potentially doing more damage than good and a jarring subplot with the pretty-but-misunderstood girl who takes a sexual interest in Terri.
The writing is uneven - not just Terri’s character - and the direction is purposely flat, but Wysocki and Reilly give it their best shot, creating a few moments of interest in the otherwise murky film experience.
