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Jul 15, 2011 By John Oursler

Coming of age teen dramas have monopolized the quirky indie realm since Wes Anderson’s Rushmore claimed the genre more than a decade ago. The best ones realize that the minutia of adolescent life is catastrophic enough to successfully engage an audience without needing to contrive outlandish stories and characters. By this point in the genre’s lifespan, idiosyncratic affectations have become so common as to be downright boring.

Unfortunately for director Azazel Jacobs, Terri comes after a litany of adolescent indie dramedies. Since the genre itself only has so much narrative autonomy, the specifics of the characters are all that set one film apart from another. It’s almost as if Jacobs’ hyper-awareness of how ingratiating eccentricity can be depicted caused him to pull back the reigns, leading to a plot that’s never fully realized.

The titular protagonist Terri, played by Jacob Wysocki, is a high-school boy who lives with his Alzheimer’s ridden uncle, whom he takes care of. Terri’s overweight and socially awkward, and wearing his pajamas to school every day. The relationships he forges with the school’s outcasts aren’t unrealistic per se, but their telling often panders to trite stereotypes —friendships with the school’s assistant principle Mr. Fitzgerald (played adeptly by John C. Reilly), the disgraced but misunderstood school-slut (Olivia Crocicchia), and Chad (Bridger Zaldina), the obligatory troubled kid.

Terri never achieves the dramatic bite of the best teen films of recent memory such as Gus Van Sant’s Elephant and Drew Barrymore’s Whip It, lacking the sheer audacity of the former and the keen comedic sensibilities of the latter. The result is an amiable yet unremarkable film that never seems to find its tonal footing. (www.terri-movie.com)

Author rating: 5/10