Director: Azazel Jacobs
Writers: Patrick Dewitt,
Azazel Jacobs
Starring: Jacob Wysoki, John
C. Reilly, Bridger Zadina, Creed Bratton, Olivia Crocicchia
This is the first of two
movies screening at this year’s Ebertfest that I’m looking at again after
having last seen it only a few months ago. I watched “Terri” last November and
included an entry in my weekly Penny Thoughts feature about it. Read it here.
This time, I’d like to
comment a little more on the John C. Reilly character. As an adult, his
character doesn’t really fall into the dramatic points of the movie. He plays
an important role in Terri’s development as an awkward outcast in high school,
that’s for sure; but the movie is in no way about the high school principal
played by Reilly.
Even so, I think it is
Reilly’s character that is the true heart and soul of this movie. He’s the
guiding force for Terri. The person that Terri has always needed in his life,
but never had. Terri’s uncle, whom he lives with, has a disconnect in his
brain. The film never says specifically what is wrong with him, but it is clear
that Terri is the caregiver in the relationship. His uncle can be an adult, if
you catch him at the right time, but you can’t count on him the way you can a
father.
It’s Reilly who is the
father figure for Terri. But the film is not about a skewed world being set
right with the right influences. Writers Patrick Dewitt and Azazel Jacobs
understand that no body’s perfect and very few things ever go the way they’re
planned. Reilly is very flawed in many of his mentoring methods. He’s not above
outright lies. He doesn’t necessarily draw any lines of appropriateness between
adults and children. Well, he draws some, but probably less than most parents would
appreciate. He’s frank and elusive, sometimes at once. But, he knows he’s
flawed. He knows he makes mistakes. And that’s what a kid like Terri really
needs to know.
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