The independent film Terri centers on Terri Thompson (Jacob Wysocki), a morbidly obese and unenthusiastic high school student. You could say Terri is in a bit of a rut lately, but this hardly seems like a new development. He attends school in pajamas and always arrives late. He lives in squalor with his elderly, dementia-battling Uncle James (Creed Bratton, "The Office", revealing fine dramatic chops). Their favorite and most frequent meal together is baked beans on toast.

Terri's habitual tardiness gets him sent to the assistant principal's office. Mr. Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly), Mr. Fitz for short, comes across as both cool and caring, dropping the word "dude" a lot. Concerned about Terri's behavior, he schedules a weekly Monday morning one-on-one session in lieu of homeroom. Terri is not pleased to learn that the privilege is one afforded just a handful of his schoolmates who are all saddled with mental, physical, or emotional problems. Still, he values Mr. Fitz's counseling and ends up finding a friend in another outcast, hostile hair-tearer Chad (Bridger Zadina).

In addition, Terri befriends Heather Miles (Olivia Crocicchia), one of the hottest girls in his school. Unbeknownst to her, Terri has actually spared her from expulsion by reporting his eyewitness account of a home ec sexual encounter. Ostracized by her classmates over the incident, Heather becomes an unlikely confidante to Terri. As does Mr. Fitz, who exhibits candor in his talks with the boy, raising his voice only for show.

This is not a film driven by plot, instead serving us a slice of adolescent life from the fringe of society. The proceedings are tremendously slow, dry, and bleak. Terri was marketed as a comedy and you'd expect that from the setting and Reilly's recent gravitation towards that genre. But the movie is very rarely funny and quite often uncomforting. The tone is comparable to Napoleon Dynamite, if Napoleon Dynamite was an R-rated straight drama whose characters weren't at all amusing. It is a laborious experience which feels like it runs twice as long as the 105 minutes it does and twice as long as it has to.

It's not all bad, however. Reilly elevates the movie every moment he's on screen, which is fortunately quite a bit. He scores the movie's only laughs and his spirited characterization is more complex than the awkward lug that has become his signature. We pick up mere morsels of Mr. Fitz's ongoing marital problems and, like Terri, we occasionally question his honesty and intentions. Ultimately, the administrator makes a convincing case for his decency and for the sympathy he shows Terri.

Terri backs away from this focal thread to spin a climax out of a house "date" between Terri and Heather, which a drunken Chad intrudes upon. The three youths swig whiskey, swallow pills, and shed clothing. The misbehavior comes out of nowhere and arrives with seemingly little purpose other than to defy your expectations and unsettle.

Maybe the whole thing is autobiographical and first-time screenwriter Patrick Dewitt is just faithfully sharing his trying teen experiences with the world. Such a theory is supported by the aimlessness and general lack of imagination. At least the movie, the biggest to date directed by Azazel Jacobs (who shares story credit with Dewitt), cannot be charged with glamour or convention. While you can appreciate the unique vision and lack of PG-13 sugarcoating, they and Reilly's compelling turn are about all you might be able to enjoy here.

Among the first films theatrically distributed by ATO (Art Takes Over) Pictures, Terri was a non-starter in limited release, despite receiving favorable reviews. It comes to DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday from ATO's video partner, 20th Century Fox.

Blu-ray Details 1.85:1 Widescreen 5.1 DTS-HD MA (English) Subtitles: English for Hearing Impaired, Spanish Not Closed Captioned; Extras Not Subtitled Release Date: October 11, 2011 Single-sided, single-layered disc (BD-25) Suggested Retail Price: $29.99 Blue Eco-Friendly Keepcase Also available on DVD ($22.99 SRP) and on Amazon Instant Video

VIDEO and AUDIO

Minimal budget or not, Terri looks excellent on Blu-ray. The 1.85:1 presentation is free of any flaws, delivering perfectly suitable visuals sharply and cleanly. The 5.1 DTS-HD master audio is as low-key as the characters themselves, with dialogue remaining intelligible and crisp in between plenty of silence.

BONUS FEATURES, MENUS, PACKAGING and DESIGN

As on the DVD, just two bonus features are offered here. "A Look Inside Terri" (10:29) provides that with offbeat production footage and black & white reflections from director Azazel Jacobs and actor Jacob Wysocki. It sheds some light on the film's creation, but like the movie, it's weird and lacks meaning/focus.

There's also a reel of three deleted scenes (7:40), presented windowboxed and in clear standard definition. It consists of an amusing second appearance by Tim Heidecker's excitable gym teacher and two extensions of Terri, Chad, and Mr. Fitz's shared outing.

The scored, animated menu depicts buttons, clip clouds, ropes, character stills, and rain or teardrops falling down against what looks like Terri's pajama fabric, an image bearing no specific relevance to the film.

The disc opens with trailers for Brand New Day, Skateland, and Fox's (and, by extension, MGM's) Year of a Million Moments, none of which are accessible by menu. Terri's own trailer is not included.

The disc supports bookmarks but is less reliable at resuming than Fox Blu-rays usually are.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

If you're in the mood for an independent movie casting John C. Reilly across a complicated, oversized youth, check out last year's entertaining Cyrus. Terri offers something vaguely similar, but without the comedy or coherency. Though Reilly has some nice moments and the movie maintains an air of authenticity, it's just too dark, weird, depressing, and discomforting to enjoy in any real way. Terri proves that not all small movies are gems.

Buy Terri from Amazon.com: Blu-ray / DVD / Instant Video