Terri

Terri is fifteen and large; everyone at school makes fun of him. He lives with his uncle, whose health is failing; he gives him his pills, makes the food and keeps the house. He starts going to school in pyjamas because he no longer cares what he wears. The assistant principal calls him to his office once a week and they talk. The man means well and is inept; most of what he says goes wrong. Then Terri makes two friends at school. Azazel Jacobs directs. Jacob Wysocki plays Terri and John C. Reilly plays the assistant principal. The narrative is in the shape of a coming of age film and there is no transformation; Terri is at the end as he was at the start, and what changes is only that a few people notice him. Its best element is the assistant principal; the man is not a rescuer and the film shows his limits. The bullying at school is not showy; nobody hits him and the exclusion works quietly. One scene is the centre of the film: a long passage with three teenagers in a room and nothing that happens there ending well for anyone. It was made cheaply and screened at Sundance. Its limit is pace; little happens and the film is deliberately still. Who it is for: viewers who like American independent youth drama and character driven films. Who it is not for: it is slow, nothing happens, and the ending resolves nothing.