London Film Festival: Terri - Review
Review by Rob Carnevale
AT FIRST glance, Azazel Jacobs’ Terri would appear to be another quirky indie coming-of-age story that follows a familiar path of an outsider finding his way in life with the help of an inspirational teacher.
But while certainly trading on those assumptions, Terri also tries to offer something a little bit different as well. There are no easy resolutions, even though there’s a keen sense of hope, and the inspirational teacher in question isn’t all that inspirational and every bit as flawed as the central character himself.
The film follows Terri (Jacob Wysocki), a large teenager who lives with his ailing uncle in the woods. Routinely teased by colleagues at school and harbouring a crush on a blonde class hottie, Terri is fast reaching the point of no longer caring and even skipping class, when Mr Fitzgerald (John C Reilly), the school principal, takes an interest in him and offers special counselling.
The ensuing relationship is far from easy, though, as Terri quickly discovers he’s not quite so uniquely special, or ‘good-hearted’, as he originally thinks and has to contend with his own feelings of insecurity as a result.
But as robust and unorthodox as Mr Fitzgerald’s approach undoubtedly is, it also begins to have a positive effect on Terri, who is reluctantly forced out of his shell to take responsibility for himself and some of those other needy types around him.
Jacobs’ film is a warm-hearted and mostly successful look at an outcast teen that should resonate on a number of levels. Yes, it’s familiar but it works because of the quirky dynamic between Wysocki, excellent at tapping into the isolation of his existence, and Reilly, whose brash, showy tendencies belie a similarly sensitive soul.
The film is at its finest whenever it’s in their company and is worth seeing for those scenes alone. It’s less successful when plotting a predictable course through some of the sexual coming-of-age elements that are almost synonymous with the genre, culminating in a highly awkward ‘date night’ between Terri, the object of his affections and his new ‘best friend’. It’s a scene that strives too hard to be outrageously funny but which hits a dubious note in that it’s the least convincing aspect of the film.
Jacobs’ pacing is also suspect at times, with leisurely sometimes feeling a little too kind.
But in spite of its flaws (which Jacobs is almost as willing to embrace as a filmmaker as his characters are of themselves), Terri succeeds as an alternative coming-of-age comedy that can be, at times, deceptively smart and touching. So long as your patient with it!
Certificate: 15
Running time: 105mins
London Film Festival Premiere: October 19, 2011
UK Release Date: Tbc