Verisimilitude, Silverwood Films, Periscope Entertainment
Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly, Bridger Zadina, Creed Bratton, Olivia Crocicchia, Tim Heidecker, Justin Prentice, Mary Anne McGarry, Tara Karsian
Terri is the story of a very strange overweight orphan who lives with his uncle who is taking large doses of meds, and is becoming senile. Terri has to take care of him, and take care of himself as well. He’s a strange kid, who comes to school in his pajamas because they are comfortable, and in the process makes an even stranger high school principal Mr. Fitzgerald (John C Reilly). Terri wants to fit in, but he is in an impossible situation and just can’t seem to get it together.
This is a very strange film. Some people are really going to love this. I didn’t like it very much, but I also had a morbid curiosity about the damn thing that meant I could not turn it off. It was like peeping in someone’s window. Mr. Fitzgerald is totally nuts. He makes friends with all the screwed up kids and has weekly meetings with them, making each of them think they’re the only one. You think he’s really a pervert, but I don’t think he is, at all. He’s just very, very lonely and seems to fit in better with the weirdos. He must have had a totally screwed up childhood himself. Terri comes to the aid of a fellow female student who was caught in a very compromising situation. He makes friends with her too, but his other friend is dead set on getting in between them. This sets up an all night party of sorts that is the most awkward thing I have ever seen. All the way through, you are expecting some kind of revelation or some kind of solution to make it all make sense, but it never comes. When we’re done with the film, it’s still like were were just peeping thorough the curtains at one of the dumb fat kids that we used to torture when we were in grade school. I don’t think Terri could survive in a real school, but these kids leave him alone for the most part. Luck for him, because in my school, he would have been beaten up every day, I’m afraid.
This is a Sundance type artsy film that is not supposed to give us any real sense of fulfillment. It’s just a window into the life of an orphaned fat kid who can’t fit in. If you’re a fan of the artsy films, then give it a go, but I wish I had passed on it, myself. The acting is pretty decent. John C Reilly is good, as is Creed Bratton, who plays the senile old uncle. But the story is really weak in my opinion. Strange. Very Strange.
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