Terri (2011)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Melvin W

  
  Mr. Fitzgerald: I screw up all the time. Because that's what people do. "We've all been there." Terri is a fresh little indie dramedy that features two outstanding performances from Jacob Wysocki and John C. Reilly.  Jacob Wysocki plays the title role and… More
  Mr. Fitzgerald: I screw up all the time. Because that's what people do. "We've all been there." Terri is a fresh little indie dramedy that features two outstanding performances from Jacob Wysocki and John C. Reilly.  Jacob Wysocki plays the title role and it's his first feature performance ever. He's really good, but I don't think he's ever going to break the typecasting. I see he's already lined up for a film called Fat Kid Rules the World. John C. Reilly is at his best in movies like this. It seems like he's getting back to doing more and more indie stuff, and I love it. 2010 had Cyrus, this year he starred in Cedar Rapids and Terri.  It should come as no surprise that this movie isn't very plot heavy. It is a character study and a pretty damn good one at that. Terri is an overweight teen, who lives with his uncle. He doesn't know where his mom is and he doesn't know where his dad is. Being as overweight as he is; he's obviously going to get made fun of. The fact that he only wears pajamas just makes matters worse. He is able to forge a friendship with the vice principal of his high school though. The two help each other out. Terri is one of those movies that is classified as a comedy, even though it is never laugh out loud hilarious. It has some funny moments, but it never creates laughs just because. It worries more about the characters, most notably Terri. In another movie Terri may have been exploited for laughs, which would have been easy. A three hundred pound teen wearing pajamas could be funny. But in this movie we don't laugh because we get to know him and we feel for him. Even though I have very little in common with Terri, I found myself trying to relate to his situations.  Terri isn't going to excite you. It is slow paced and nothing much happens. Many people just can't handle movies like this and I don't particularly blame them. I can see how movies of this type could come of as pointless and just a waste of time, but I love these types of movies. I love Terri not only because it's different, but because it's realistic and easy to relate to.  Fans of coming of age movies, indie movies, and patient storytelling should rejoice in Terri. But if you're looking for a comedy that will make you laugh endlessly, you may want to look elsewhere. 

• Sam B

  
  It starts off following the same old coming-of-age / mentor movie formula, but Terri eventually transcends those tropes, mostly because just about every moment is so sincere and filled with such humanity and truth. This is helped along by the eye-opening performance by Jacob Wysocki… More
  It starts off following the same old coming-of-age / mentor movie formula, but Terri eventually transcends those tropes, mostly because just about every moment is so sincere and filled with such humanity and truth. This is helped along by the eye-opening performance by Jacob Wysocki (Terri), yet another actor this year who won't get nearly the amount of attention he deserves. A long and surprisingly tense and emotional scene that serves as the climax really sums up the confusion that sometimes comes with being a teenager, and the script as whole is filled with poignant lines that simplify the film's main themes and put that whole 'growing up' thing into a clear perspective. Fascinating character study.

• Pedro H

  
  "We've all been there" Ridiculous This is an extremely long slow paced Indie film, who is beyond stupid. I was really looking forward for this film, but it is a huge mess. A totally out there film with nothing to offer but some good acting from Jacob Wysocki and John… More
  "We've all been there" Ridiculous This is an extremely long slow paced Indie film, who is beyond stupid. I was really looking forward for this film, but it is a huge mess. A totally out there film with nothing to offer but some good acting from Jacob Wysocki and John C. Reilly, everything else is plain dumb. This movie tells the story of Terri, a problematic, overweight, teenager who lives in a town of freaks. He finds Mr. Fitzgerald who attempts to help him, and this is basically the story of these two and how similar they are to each other. I am not even going to expand on how bad this movie is, but basically - it tries so hard to be a cult film with a deeper meaning, but really there isn't any. The characters are dull, the soundtrack is lame, and the pace of this movie is horrible. Overall don't waste your time with Terri. As you know I am a big fan of Indie films, but this one right here my friends, this one is trash. Mr. Fitzgerald: I knew this kid growing up who tied flaming tennis balls to cats' tails and loved every minute of it. I think he's a cop now.

• ♥˩ƳИИ &

  
  Cast: Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly, Bridger Zadina, Creed Bratton, Olivia Crocicchia, Tim Heidecker, Justin Prentice, Mary Anne McGarry, Tara Karsian Director: Azazel Jacobs Summary: Working with screenwriter Patrick Dewitt, filmmaker Azazel Jacobs crafts a poignant… More
  Cast: Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly, Bridger Zadina, Creed Bratton, Olivia Crocicchia, Tim Heidecker, Justin Prentice, Mary Anne McGarry, Tara Karsian Director: Azazel Jacobs Summary: Working with screenwriter Patrick Dewitt, filmmaker Azazel Jacobs crafts a poignant coming-of-age tale about Terri (Jacob Wysocki), an overweight orphan who, while struggling to find acceptance with his peers, forms an unlikely friendship with his vice principal (John C. Reilly). My Thoughts: "You were either a Terri in school, if not, you probably knew one. That's what makes this film so great is that the character's are realistic. These are people you could know, or maybe even be like. Jacob Wysocki gives a fantastic performance as Terri. Terri is a bit of an outcast because of his weight and he is a bit of a loner. He has no friends and no real adult supervision or guidance besides an Uncle James. But unfortunately Terri takes care of James instead of vice versa because the uncle is quite ill. They never really actually say what is wrong with the uncle though. Terri is a lonely person that takes a liking to his principle Mr. Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly). They actually are both lonely souls and that is what seems to make them ideal companions. Terri looking more for a friend and an adult he can talk to, and Fitzgerald wanting to help the kids that remind him of himself at that age. These character's are all well written and realistic and all the actor's give great performances. It's not an film that everyone is going to enjoy. Especially if you don't like slow burning character driven plots. I happen to be one who does, when they are made right. If you happen to be one of those people too, then don't miss out on seeing "Terri".

• Dead A

  
  Every actors literally blended in their given character and as a result the performance is great. Though I couldn't be a big fan of this movie as I didn't liked the story that much but it was okay. But story like this does happen in real life.

• Manu G

  
  We've all been there. Not a bad film yet a great one. What really carries this film throughout is the great acting by everyone and also how real it was. The story wasn't that interesting. Not your typical movie so watch at own risk. A hit at the Sundance 2011 Film… More
  We've all been there. Not a bad film yet a great one. What really carries this film throughout is the great acting by everyone and also how real it was. The story wasn't that interesting. Not your typical movie so watch at own risk. A hit at the Sundance 2011 Film Festival, 'Terri' is a moving and often funny film about the relationship between Terri, an oversized teen misfit, and the garrulous but well-meaning vice principal (John C. Reilly) who takes an interest in him.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>""There's good hearted kids and there's bad hearted kids. When I look at you I see a good heart." "</i> Centers on a large 15-year-old boy in a small town as he struggles to adjust to his difficult life. <center><font size=+2… More
  <i>""There's good hearted kids and there's bad hearted kids. When I look at you I see a good heart." "</i> Centers on a large 15-year-old boy in a small town as he struggles to adjust to his difficult life. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> Terri is an extremely heartfelt movie without ever being sobby or begging for sympathy. Jacob Wysocki as Terri, is just a marvelous choice. He portrays a strong, but lonely teen suffering from, like we all do at some point, loneliness. Another performance that was particularly well played was by John C. Reilly as the equally lonely, and pretty miserable vice president of Terri's school. He and Terri begin a friendship that seems very raw and real. The supporting performances also were very good including Bridger Zadina as Chad, Terri's misfit friend who likes pulling hair out of his head. Also Creed Bratton as Terri's somewhat delusional uncle, and Olivia Crocicchia as Terri's love interest. While I was watching Terri, I found myself laughing, not chuckling, at many of the jokes. Terri is a truly funny movie, because it's realistic humor that many people can relate to: the ups and downs of high school. But in the end, Terri isn't a movie. It's a bold statement about life. Everything in Terri is amazing; the acting, the setting, the themes. And by the end of the movie, you realize there's hope for every teenage misfit in high school, as long as they have a fraction of the heart Terri has.

• Liam G

  
  Azazel Jacob's dramedy is very well-written, features terrific performances from Jacob Wysocki and John C. Reilly, who shows how versatile of an actor he is, and has incredibly interesting characters. It's a coming of age film done right, both moving and often funny.

• Greg S

  
  A high school principal takes an interest in a fat kid who goes to school in his pajamas. At first it seems like it's going to follow a predictable plot arc, but in a twist the story just sort of peters out instead; great performances make up for it. Still, in 2011's… More
  A high school principal takes an interest in a fat kid who goes to school in his pajamas. At first it seems like it's going to follow a predictable plot arc, but in a twist the story just sort of peters out instead; great performances make up for it. Still, in 2011's "wise-but-flawed-adult-mentors-troubled-teen" mini-genre, I'd recommend WIN WIN over this.

• William D

  
  The new film from Azazel Jacobs, "Terri," starring talented newcomer Jacob Wysocki, has some interesting elements, but it is so slack that it's almost impossible to stay awake through all of it. Jacobs resolutely refuses to abide by the conventions of narrative… More
  The new film from Azazel Jacobs, "Terri," starring talented newcomer Jacob Wysocki, has some interesting elements, but it is so slack that it's almost impossible to stay awake through all of it. Jacobs resolutely refuses to abide by the conventions of narrative cinema. I applaud this avant-garde stance. But it's awfully hard to make storylessness work cinematically, and Jacobs doesn't find a way to pull it off. He's got a lot of great ideas, but he is having trouble bringing his ideas to the screen in an engaging way. What I basically saw here was an imitation of Todd Solondz, who himself has sputtered to a standstill as an artist.

• Jeff T

  
  I don't quite know what to make of this oddball indie - it's neither raucous comedy nor uncomfortable character study, though at times it seems like both (and neither). It's the story of an outsider (nicely played by somebody who I can only imagine knows exactly what… More
  I don't quite know what to make of this oddball indie - it's neither raucous comedy nor uncomfortable character study, though at times it seems like both (and neither). It's the story of an outsider (nicely played by somebody who I can only imagine knows exactly what he's doing), and if it were a conventional movie (or even conventionally unconventional) he would either (a) grow and learn or (b) be put on display for us to gently mock and observe. And while all those things happen, the tone is so uneven, and I think the point so buried, that the flick is as frustrating as it is possibly rewarding. I kept thinking of another oddball movie this summer, SUBMARINE, and how much I wished I was seeing it again in all its quirky glory. At least I had a sense of the point of view there. Here, I just felt slightly entertained, slightly uncomfortable and slightly lost.

• Panta O

  
  What a delight... "Terri" was a real small masterpiece with its misdirected unpredictability! Director Azazel Jacobs portraits adolescence flawlessly managing to capture the cruelty and the sweetness of it, delivering very realistic and entirely absorbing drama. The story… More
  What a delight... "Terri" was a real small masterpiece with its misdirected unpredictability! Director Azazel Jacobs portraits adolescence flawlessly managing to capture the cruelty and the sweetness of it, delivering very realistic and entirely absorbing drama. The story of a young man, actually a misfit, who is orphaned to an uncle who is fading away, mercilessly teased by his peers and roundly ignored by his teacher, is warm and different. Terri is alienated and alone but finds an unusual friend in a dreaded vice-principal who sees something of himself in Terri, establishing a friendship which opens possibility that life is something to be shared, and even enjoyed... I was mesmerized by the understated performance of John C. Reilly and equally surprised by the star-making potential of the lead Jacob Wysocki... it was a real pleasure enjoying the chemistry of those actors used in best possible way! This extremely fresh, funny and perky movie will take you on a bittersweet journey which you'll have to enjoy...

• Cameron J

  
  John C. Reilly is a majorly underappreciated talent who is surprisingly diverse in his role-picking, but the poor son of a gun slipped up big time with "Step Brothers", not because it's a bad film, but when you're hanging out with Will Ferrell, the ultimate man… More
  John C. Reilly is a majorly underappreciated talent who is surprisingly diverse in his role-picking, but the poor son of a gun slipped up big time with "Step Brothers", not because it's a bad film, but when you're hanging out with Will Ferrell, the ultimate man child, good luck breaking out of that routine. Well, sure enough, as excellent as an actor as this guy is, he's stuck playing baby sitter, and if he's not that, as "Walk Hard" showed us, he has to assume the manchild role, and that's a shame, because although he's good in both roles, somebody better give this guy some room to stretch, and next time, maybe you could do it in a movie that people have actually heard of. I don't know why I said "next time", because even here, he's going the extra mile in the manchild caretaker role, actually taking care of a child that's clearly a man; not much of one, but a man, nevertheless. Speaking of which, as much as I talk way too much about John C. Reilly, the real star of the show is Jacob Wysocki. ...Yeah, I don't know him either, so let's talk more about John C. Reilly. No, this isn't like the last John Reilly indie film about a big fat guy who's name is the title, where the main focus really was Reilly, which is probably why this film isn't as good. No, the film isn't bad, and Reilly's playing second banana certainly isn't doing much to pull the film down, which isn't to say that there's still not a couple of things that are pulling the film down. Now, I know that plenty of indie films of this type are known to have long periods of simply nothing, but here, I don't know if I can say that the film does nothing, because I don't exactly understand how "nothing" can get repetative. Well, eitherway, what little that does actually happen in this film is likely to happen again later on down the road, which further pads out a film already overdrawn by loose editing enough. I mean, Terri doesn't even confront John Reilly's character, Mr. Fitzgerald, until 15 minute-wait, it was only 15 minutes in. Funny, it felt like close to 40 minutes, because not only is the film padded out and rather dull in tone, but the pacing is slow, maybe not to a "Munich" degree, but still enough so that it only slows the momentum of the film down even more. Outside of that, there's really nothing terribly distinctive about this film, as it falls into so many convention of films of its type, and if it doesn't, it makes little effort to transcend and add to the genre. It's a film that doesn't stand a terribly great chance at being mediocre, let alone bad, but neither does it stand as worthy of high praise, Roger Ebert. However, no matter how much this film descends into the conventional attributes and flaws of its genre, films of this type are unendiably respectable, and this film is no exception, because for misstep, it picks itself back up almost - nay - "entirely" because of the human aspects. Films of this type are notoriously realistic, and although this film hits the occasional point where it's a touch more exaggerated than usual, this film is still pretty down-to-earth. I'm really digging on the portrayal of the teenagers in this film, because it shows us the kind of stupid, nasy, immature little plagues on humanity most of them are. No, but seriously though, the film has a mostly realist view on its characters, exploring the depths in the humanity of every individual in a fashion that's familiar, but still effective, and what liberties they do take in reality still manage to fit and serve the story, not letting you forget that this is not only a study on the behavior of people like this, but a study on the life of an individual that serves as more than just an audience avatar. Of course, the person who really sells both his individuality and avatar status is our lead, Jacob Wysocki, who isn't giving a particularly powerful performance, but has enough charm and humanity in his presence to keep the film afloat. The same can be said about John C. Reilly, who may be playing John C. Reilly, but nobody does it better, and sure enough, his electric charm makes every moment with him - limited though, those moments may be - really enjoyable, partially because when he is on, Wysocki right there by his side, helping to create some firecracker chemistry. Wysocki has chemistry with just about everyone in the film, and it really adds to the human element, but that humanity is at its most energized during the handful of moments shared by Reilly and Wysocki, and everytime they're on screen together, the film really livens up. Those and a good deal of other moments in the film are charming, genuine and likeable enough to make the film worth the watch - nay - the enjoyment, because although there's nothing terribly impacting about the film, it's still an ultimately awarding experience. Overall, loosely-edited sequences and some repetition exacerbate a dull tone, while the slow pacing exacerbates "every" flaw, and there's just not enough uniqueness in the film to raise it above that, but what makes it ultimately rewarding, nevertheless, is the genuine and often realistic writing that is translated charmingly by our leads, particularly Jacob Wysocki and John C. Reilly, both of whom deliver electric chemistry that really picks the film up whenever it falls, which isn't to say that there aren't enough highs, otherwise, that ultimately make "Terri" a generally enjoyable portrait on the problems faced by the sensitive youth. Granted, seeing as these are teenagers we're talking about, these aren't "real" problems, and if they are, it's the fault of the stupid kids, but hey, the film's still pretty decent anyways. 2.5/5 - Fair

• Jeffrey M

  
  Despite a number of genuinely funny and authentic moments, Terri is not engaging enough to sustain itself. The filmâ(TM)s pace becomes too sluggish, with overly drawn out scenes. All the acting is good, but the script never really delivers much nuance, the film is not nearly as… More
  Despite a number of genuinely funny and authentic moments, Terri is not engaging enough to sustain itself. The filmâ(TM)s pace becomes too sluggish, with overly drawn out scenes. All the acting is good, but the script never really delivers much nuance, the film is not nearly as insightful or clever as it thinks it is. On the whole, you have something that just never adds up to anything significant, itâ(TM)s just indie and meditative, but not much else.

• Ryan M

  
  8.4/10 High School life was in itself a whole new existence; mixed reactions were tossed around like hacky-sacks. Some people look back on their High School career and remember all those good times they have, while others regret what they missed out on, avoided, or weren't… More
  8.4/10 High School life was in itself a whole new existence; mixed reactions were tossed around like hacky-sacks. Some people look back on their High School career and remember all those good times they have, while others regret what they missed out on, avoided, or weren't able to embrace at the time. Not all High School students are created equal. Some are kind, understanding, and mature; but the reality is that a good number of them are instead nasty, cruel, and still developing in terms of logic and thinking. A lot of movies release each year, attempting to tackle such subjects with both complication and grace; and you might notice that several of them fail. In the worst of years, not one High School-centered movie makes it out alive. But sometimes, there's a movie; and sometimes, it's a movie that can truly reach an audience. Hollywood High School dramas are nigh incapable of doing so; I would personally leave it to the Art-House/Independent crowd of films to deal with such themes and plot elements. Naturally, Art-House and Independent films are simply more true-to-life; made by people in touch with their emotions who don't just get tears for the sake of a pay-check. I guess this year isn't all that bad; since among other things, 2011 does have one compelling High School drama, and that film is "Terri". It's an intelligent independent drama that truly brings depth to a subject that has been nearly worked to death. It treats High School as a living hell; in which the Guidance Councilor's office is the only place of peace and safety for the few troubled kids. A lot of High School films would rather follow the non-troubled kids; the ones that most teenagers in the target audience will relate to the most, over the misfits presented here. However, I would watch "Terri" over any recent Hollywood-made High School drama any day; if only for the sake of my sanity, which the film respects. It is made for smart movie-goers, those who have lived life and have studied it as much as the first-time director (Azazel Jacobs) and his screenwriter (Patrick DeWitt) have. All their observation and hard work has alas paid off in a rewarding, all-together excellent and emotional resonant movie. The social outcast that we are introduced to is the titular character, Terri (Jacob Wysocki). He is an obese, quiet High School kid who lives alone with his Uncle (Creed Bratton of "The Office"), who is suffering from some form of dementia, late in his life. Terri is constantly made fun of at school for a number of reasons; a few worth mentioning include his weight, his clothing-of-choice (he wears a pajama outfit to school, claiming them to be comfortable enough for him to be content), and his lack of developed social skills. Terri is lonely, but complex in person. He still holds on to the humanity that many of his peers have since lost in the past few years. Terri's behavior catches the attention of the school's assistant principle, Mr. Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly), who goes out of his way to talk to the troubled students of the school at least once every week. He is able to reach Terri through his laid-back persona and whacky sense of humor; and the two become close friends over a short period of time. Mr. Fitzgerald and Terri exchange intelligent, thoughtful dialogue that highlights the kind of philosophy that a Guidance-Counselor-figure should give to a student, which Terri begins to apply to what awaits him in life throughout the second and third acts of the story. He befriends an attractive girl (Olivia Crocicchia), who is herself suffering the consequences of a regrettably true rumor. Terri does not mind the rumor; he is just happy to have a girl talk to him, accept him, and perhaps even love him. "Terri" does not escape genre conventions. It isn't a comedy, yet there are laughs; although I expect quite a few of them were generated through my own understanding of human behavior. This is something that most High School dramas that come out of Hollywood's hellish gates lack. There's also a sentimental send-off, but I didn't expect anything less, and I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining, because I'm not. "Terri" hits all the right notes, and by the end, we are involved enough with the characters to evaluate and emotionally invest in the situation and problems at hand. Wysocki's performance as the main character is sympathetic, sweet, and I believe it's good enough to be deserving of some pretty damn high praise. Reilly is as excellent as ever - as he typically is in his more dramatic roles, something he has been gearing more toward lately - and the actors that portray the various other troubled kids of the school are talented and play the parts accordingly. A lot about this drama shines. It's better than it appears to be, deeper, and about as realistic as it can possibly get. The film sets itself up so that a good number of lonely film buffs can relate to its character. You could be Terri; I could be Terri. He is such a wonderful young man, that perhaps there's a little bit of him in all of us. I loved him about as much as I loved the movie.

• Nick S

  
  Where do I start? "Terri" is one of the worst movies I have seen this year, maybe three years. Let's begin with an extensive review of why this movie sucks so bad. "Terri" makes absolutely no sense at all; I would like to start off by saying that I really… More
  Where do I start? "Terri" is one of the worst movies I have seen this year, maybe three years. Let's begin with an extensive review of why this movie sucks so bad. "Terri" makes absolutely no sense at all; I would like to start off by saying that I really dislike those "life" movies or independent films because they're all just absolute bull and are pretty much the same thing every time. Some person and their problems. Even though, half the time, they have no problems at all. This is one of those films. Terri is an obese kid who pretty much is the laziest f*uck-up you'll ever see. He goes to school in his pajamas and exerts no effort because he feels distant from everyone else. Maybe he wouldn't feel so distant if he wore normal clothes and tried to make some friends. But the film just completely blows off why Terri is the way he is and just wants to focus on his misery, which we have no real emphasize for. Just to get it out of the way, there is one kid in it who is a disgusting, future rapist kid who just is annoying to watch. That doesn't mean the kid was a good actor. What I'm saying is that he was just completely made-up. Nothing about him seemed realistic or believable. The film seemed to make this school look like it's full of slutty girls and creepy boys, even though the facility isn't that bad looking. Plus, Terri acts like he's just a struggling teen who is leading a very depressing life, but no where does this movie make me care for him. Reason number one was because there was no emphasize to why he's this way. If we could just see some family tragedy or teens making fun of him, then we'd care more about him. But no. All we got were perverted, creepy, and completely over-exaggerated teenagers. This wasn't some depressing, city area; it actually looked like a nice place where normal, everyday things could occur. But the characters completely mis-match with the setting, and therefore the tone becomes muddled. I'm not saying that all stories like this have to be in a depressing setting, but just that it isn't as convincing when it isn't. Terri lived in a fairly sized house and we never saw a scene where he was over-eating, so why the hell is he fat and miserable? We're never told. I guess we just assume that all obese people are sad, challenged, and living depressing lives, even at childhood. While I guess that could possibly be true, it's not exactly a kind-hearted thing to force the audience to have to assume for themselves. Next problem is when they try to make us like Terri a different way. So the film introduces this girl who gets caught by her classmates getting fingered by that perverted, future-rapist boy and is now the embarrassment of the entire school. So I guess we're to assume that this girl is a slut since she'd let a boy do that in the f"cking classroom. I assume; since this movie apparently expects us to just assume the worst in people. The film does try to highlight the fact that the boy kind of forced her. Which is bull. When it was happening, she enjoyed it and the only reason she cried was because everyone saw it. Yeah, she's a slut. But, of course, the film insists that Terri create some kind of bond with her, and the excuse is because Terri thinks now that she's an outcast, he can be with her. What? First, we don't even know exactly why Terri is an outcast and the girl we don't care about because we just assume she's just a slut. Her emphasize just revolves around the fact that she was caught! So I guess the moral here is that you should feel bad for the people who get caught masterbating? Anyway, I let it slide just a bit, assuming maybe we'll see why she's a slut in the first place and that she's actually just a nice, but "screwed-up-life" kind of girl. But no. The movie's biggest flaw is what happens next. A scene involving her, Terri, and Terri's also perverted and completely meaningless friend is just the most boring, un-character involved, completely over-exaggerated, irrelevant scene I have ever seen! The stupid kids, for NO REASON at all; it's not even said why; decide to drink and do pills in the garage. Why? There's no reason for it! And don't you even say it's because they're depressed. The film doesn't even tell us why they're depressed. This is another thing I hate about Indie life movies, that seem like they were made by a college student. They're all R-Rated for reasons that have no point. It's like the writer deliberately wanted the film R-Rated so he just threw in needless profanity and sexual/drug-related events. I'm no Mormon or super Christian; don't get me wrong; I love R-Rated movies, but when there's no reason to put in the stuff that makes it R-Rated, it all just feels staged and deliberate, and nothing real. "Terri" is a perfect example. So, they do drugs, the friend goes unconscious, and now for the huge flaw. So, Terri and the girl are talking and the girl starts getting a little sexual and then takes all of her clothes off and starts begging for Terri to come to her. He doesn't, they fall asleep, and that morning the friend and the girl are gone and the whole event is over. What!? So as pointless as it was, the only thing it said was that the girl was actually a slut all along. HOLD ON! The film didn't mean to say this, it's what I interpreted because of the film's lazy stupidity. We never see the girl again after this scene. So, the whole time we were supposed to connect with a character or the relationship between Terri and the girl, yet they completely blow it off again with the girl just being a slut the whole time. A "time-filler." I mean, seriously? You can't just introduce a character and FORCE us to assume she's a slut, and then assume that she might not be as bad as everyone in the, (FOR NO REASON), creepy school thinks she is. But then just have it where she is a slut and the movies over. There is no emphasize for anything. When they try, it completely fails under it's own stupidity. All the plot details about what teens are like and what makes people miserable is just so over-exagerrated and completely flawed in tone. It's like this film was just trying to win independent awards. It was stupid, boring, severely flawed, uninteresting and the characters were boring and stupid; making this one of the worst movies I have ever seen!

• Christopher H

  
  While Jacob Wysocki as Terri does not sell this film for me, John C. Reilly's performance mixed with the subtle subject matter of the disaffected youth translates well enough to keep this film interesting and satisfying. Though rather predictable, the writing, for Reilly's… More
  While Jacob Wysocki as Terri does not sell this film for me, John C. Reilly's performance mixed with the subtle subject matter of the disaffected youth translates well enough to keep this film interesting and satisfying. Though rather predictable, the writing, for Reilly's character especially, raises this film slightly higher than a normal Indy-feeling drama-comedy.

• Daisy M

  
  John C Reilly was always one of my favorite actor when it came to Indie films, after seeing him in Cyrus and we need to talk about Kevin, it made me curious to see him now in Terri. When you first meet Terri, you'll see just how much of an accomplishment even that will be. Jacob… More
  John C Reilly was always one of my favorite actor when it came to Indie films, after seeing him in Cyrus and we need to talk about Kevin, it made me curious to see him now in Terri. When you first meet Terri, you'll see just how much of an accomplishment even that will be. Jacob Wysocki, who played Terri, a fat kid who were bullied and teased and wore pajamas to school. But when you see him, I think you'll understand why. It was just one of the many uncomfortable situations that Jacob played for a mix of humor and drama The acting of Jacob and John C Reilly were just fantastic. Only the storyline did not have any surprises for the viewers. It did not provide good elements to form a overall highly entertaining experience. It was disappointing to see such potential in character development gone to waste. While the character uniqueness in this film were definitely enough to bring a fine piece of teenage growing-up tale, the story failed to transform it into something we called excellent and memorable.

• Jason C

  
  This would be such a recognized film come award time if it went anywhere. With so many things done right, Terri had one blaring problem. It didn't go anywhere. At all. The acting was terrific. Jacob Wysocki played Terri, the teen who shut down in response to how his life was… More
  This would be such a recognized film come award time if it went anywhere. With so many things done right, Terri had one blaring problem. It didn't go anywhere. At all. The acting was terrific. Jacob Wysocki played Terri, the teen who shut down in response to how his life was going. Wysocki played this delicate role well. John C. Reilly was a powerhouse of an actor, but as the schtick type roles came along, he got comfortable in them. It shows how comfortable he is doing that Will Farrell type stuff because it seems to have become his style of acting. He does a fair job, though. Olivia Crocicchia and Bridger Zadina were real good as screwed up teens. One more obvious, and one with problems that weren't apparent just by looking at her. Croccicchia is on one of my favorite TV shows called Rescue Me. She's not very good in it, but maybe that's what the director of that show wants from her. She's real good in Terri. Creed Bratton (he plays Terri's uncle) has been in very few movies. He was very good in a drug abusing, chronically ill man charged with raising Terri. The problem with the movie: story. Or lack there-of. Terri started out by introducing the main character and a few others who would be important to the story. Then it built them a little. Slowly. Then it kept going at a slow pace without anything new happening, or without introducing any real dilemma or challenge. Then it was over. Nothing progressed, the story didn't build. There wasn't any sort of closure. There was no point to the movie. It was like Napoleon Dynamite without the small closure at the end. It was a waste because writer/director Azazel Jacobs took great care in keeping the characters in their places. It could have easily gotten out of hand or just screwed up, but Jacobs crafted them wonderfully. It's useless when they don't actually go anywhere, though. It's not even a character study because it's so limited in story. The one problem turns an almost workable film into 1 hour 40 minutes of a fat guy in pajamas.

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