Here's the Times review of Terri. Copyright the New York TImes

Another Teenage Misfit Trying to Like Himself By A. O. SCOTT Published: June 30, 2011 Recommend Twitter Sign In to E-Mail Print Reprints Share In outline the story told in “Terri” could not be more familiar: A misfit high school student, isolated and misunderstood, finds companionship with other oddballs, as well as a measure of self-acceptance. The same description could apply to “Submarine” and “The Art of Getting By,” restricting ourselves only to films currently playing in theaters. All three movies are sincere and thoughtful — necessary but not sufficient conditions for our interest and admiration. More About This Movie Overview Tickets & Showtimes New York Times Review Cast, Credits & Awards Readers' Reviews Trailers & Clips View Clip... Multimedia Interview: Azazel Jacobs Related Creating an Adolescence for the Ages (June 26, 2011) In real life we can hope that every teenager can do his or her best and feel good about the results, but the standards of art are not so lenient. And what lifts “Terri” above its peers is not the plight of its protagonist or the film’s sympathy for him, but rather the care and craft that the director, Azazel Jacobs, has brought to fairly conventional material. Mr. Jacobs’s previous film, “Momma’s Man,” was also the story of a young man in distress: a fellow in his 20s unable to flee a parental nest occupied, in a curious and crucial twist, by the filmmaker’s own parents. With “Terri,” Mr. Jacobs, working from a script by Patrick Dewitt, moves further from home, to a wooded, suburban stretch of Southern California where the title character (Jacob Wysocki) lives with his ailing, quietly unstable Uncle James (Creed Bratton). Terri, overweight and slow-moving, goes to school in his pajamas and endures the teasing of his classmates with sad resignation. He warily consents to be taken under the wing of Assistant Principal Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly) and drifts into uneasy friendship with another outcast, Chad (Bridger Zadina), a skinny, angry kid with the nervous habit of pulling out his own hair. Retrospectively you will perceive the usual beats of a coming-of-age tale, as Terri is tested in various ways and learns important lessons about loyalty, bravery and himself. He overcomes his initial suspicions of Mr. Fitzgerald, whose bluff, bureaucratic manner disguises a sensitive and generous soul. Terri also undergoes a tentative sexual awakening with Heather (Olivia Crocicchia), a girl he rescues from expulsion in a lovely and plausible act of chivalry. What makes “Terri” special, though, is that you don’t feel pushed around by the narrative. Mr. Jacobs paces his scenes with a relaxed, almost dreamy rhythm and allows odd, interesting details to catch his ear and eye. A pushier, less confident filmmaker would have underlined the quirkiness of the characters, condescending to them with mockery, sentimentality or a coy blend of the two. But everyone in “Terri” is allowed to be opaque and unpredictable, the way real people are. The members of the cast, Mr. Wysocki in particular, are awkward in just the right way. We don’t learn much about Terri’s background or the nature of his uncle’s ailments, and we are never sure, from moment to moment, how anyone will behave. That is most likely because they are not sure either. The theme, summarized bluntly by Fitzgerald, who has a professional devotion to canned wisdom, is that people try as hard as they can even though no one is really certain of anything. It may not be the most profound lesson, but “Terri” communicates it with modesty, wisdom and a refreshing lack of didacticism. “Terri” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It has drug use, sexual references and swearing. TERRI Opens on Friday in New York and Los Angeles. Directed by Azazel Jacobs; written by Patrick Dewitt; director of photography, Tobias Datum; edited by Darrin Navarro; production design by Matt Luem; music by Mandy Hoffman; produced by Alison Dickey, Hunter Gray, Lynette Howell and Alex Orlovsky; released by ATO Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 27 minutes. WITH: Jacob Wysocki (Terri), Creed Bratton (Uncle James), Olivia Crocicchia (Heather), Bridger Zadina (Chad) and John C. Reilly (Mr. Fitzgerald).