Blu-ray Review Terri
Directed by: Azazel Jacobs Cast: John C. Reilly, Creed Bratton, Jacob Wysocki Running Time: 1 hr 45 min Rating: R Due Out: October 11, 2011
PLOT: Terri (Wysocki), a high school outcast, starts meeting with his high school vice principal (Reilly) which leads him to make some changes in his situation.
WHO'S IT FOR? It's not quite as quirky as it seems, really this is a film for fans of unconventional high school movies.
MOVIE:
When I first heard about this movie, it seemed a lot like Cyrus, another film about a odd young man that costars Reilly as well. (You can find my review of that DVD here.) However, tonally it was much more similar to Win Win or Hesher. Terri is a big kid in every way. He knows he can't fit in at his school so he doesn't try, instead wearing pajamas to class and rarely talking to the other kids. Reilly is the school vice principal who picks him out as a kid who needs a friend. But their relationship doesn't follow the traditional teacher/student movie tropes. Terri's search for authentic experiences causes him to react badly to anything he sees as false. Sometimes I couldn't understand why he was doing what he did, the mouse killing scene didn't really make sense to me. But the film is more interested in the journey than making everything clear in the end. I'm not sure if I was totally OK with that, but I did respect them making the decision.
Screenwriter Patrick Dewitt is an author living in Portland who's latest book, The Sisters Brothers is Shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I'd be interested to see what other films he does. I'm also interested in director Jacobs, especially after seeing him talk on the behind the scenes featurette. They seem like a less dark Mike White/Miguel Arteta type pairing.
MOVIE SCORE: 6/10
EXTRAS A Look Inside Terri Deleted Scenes