Michael Ledo Terri (Jacob Wysocki), is a boy. Normally Terri for males is spelled with a "Y" as opposed to the cutesy "I" for females. This is symbolic of his role as a "victim of circumstance" in this awkward coming of age story. Terri is 15, obese and pathetic. He cares for his uncle who has memory lapses and bad days. Terri goes to school wearing pajamas and has a nemesis (Justin Prentice as Dirty Zach) who picks on him as well as is semi-intimate with a blond girl (Olivia Crocicchia as Heather) in which Terri is interested.John C. Reilly plays the semi-cool, slightly creepy, misfit school principal Mr. Fitzgerald who takes an interest in Terri's life as he is frequently late for homeroom. Terri quickly realizes that the principal only meets with misfits and is upset he is in that group. We see Terri and Heather's relationship bloom during a very bad music montage. The movie lumbers along slow and steady like Terri. At times I found myself waiting for something to happen that wasn't as boring as real life. Like most Indy movies it relishes in its uncomfortable scenes, substituting real human drama, which we get enough in our own life, for exploding heads on the screen. I admit it, I am shallow and enjoy exploding heads.If you are a big fan of Indie films and John C. Reilly this is a 5 star must see movie. The characters were unique and realistic. The dialogue flowed but was not abundantly witty or clever. There is a scene where graffiti states "Fitzgerald is a zombie." John C. Reilly played an uncredited "bathroom zombie" in "Zombieland," perhaps an inside indie joke. The movie includes some real life views and philosophy expressed through the understanding John C. Reilly. Good Indie.F bomb, sex talk, near sex. No nudity.

meeza The independent film "Terri" is not a bio flick about Berlin lead singer Terri Nunn; if that would be the case, it would be a surefire Oscar winner. OK, so I am bias; and I do promise I will provide "no more words" to this review on my fascination with Ms. Nunn. Anyways, "Terri" actually is a very sweet movie about an overweight outcast teen named (see movie title) who wears pajamas to school, and is not to expressive. Terri lives with his uncle who suffers from Alzheimer's. The main subject of "Terri" is Terri's meetings with his school's assistant principal Mr. Fitzpatrick. The best scenes of "Terri" is on the elevator relationship of Mr. Fitz and Terri, and how Fitzpatrick notices the good-heartedness in Terri even though he is constantly tardy and does not have the proper school attire. But life is not one big Pajama Party for Terri; he is so profoundly unemotional due to the constant bullying he must have encountered throughout his young life; it is a norm to his daily routine. Terri does develop a friendship with an unstable student named Chad who pulls his hair follicles out due to his mental condition. The attractive teen student Heather enters the picture and has a key role in Terri's development. She herself is bullied at school due to an incident where students saw a male student perform a sexual act on Heather during home economics class. I can't put my finger on which sexual act it was; OK, that is enough. Director Azazel Jacobs does an admirable job in directing the picture; even though I could have done without the mousetrap scenes, which to me were kind of cheesy. However, Jacobs mastered the interaction chemistry between Mr. Fitzpatrick and Terri. Jacobs co-wrote the screenplay with Patrick Dewitt, and I must say it was very "dewitty". Newcomer Jacob Wysocki was not sucky at all as the title character. He was very impressive. I am sure Jacob will be climbing up the thespian ladder in the motion picture industry. And there is the great John C. Reilly who was a stalwart as A.P. Mr. Fitzpatrick; I will discipline those that say JCR is not one of the best actors in the movie business. Impressive supporting turns were also turned out by teen actors Olivia Crocicchia as Heather and especially Bridger Zadina as Chad. "Terri" was solid enough to get me terri-eyed to notice how authentic this character-oriented movie was; and that really is enough for me to recommend to you to get terried-away with a "Terri" viewing experience. **** Good

Turfseer Another quirky indie comes down the pike by the name of 'Terri'. It's about an obese kid who goes to school in his pajamas and tries to cope in a world of peers who are against him. 'Terri' basically fits my definition of the classic quirky indie which puts forth a "quirky protagonist who must go on a journey of self-discovery, shedding a repressed upbringing while thwarting the goals of a reactionary group that wishes to maintain the status quo." Here the "reactionary" group consists of the bullies who mock Terri and other ostracized kids at the school as well as unsympathetic teachers, who all seem to feel that any acts of kindness toward their students would be detrimental to their overall growth.Other quirky indies such as 'The Descendants', have a protagonist that begins as a member of a reactionary group, but then rebels against them (think of George Clooney's character taking a stand against those members of his family who side with the developers). With Terri, there's a variation on the common theme: he must shed his repressed upbringing but is never part of the reactionary group he's opposed to. In fact, Terri is an outcast from that group, from day one! In contrast to the punks at school, Terri actually has a good heart. This is manifested in his loving concern for his Uncle James, who is afflicted with early onset Alzheimer's. Terri's issues revolve around lack of self-esteem, exacerbated by the bullying at school as well as a wellspring of anger that sometimes emerges at inopportune times. Early on, after trapping mice in the attic, Terri begins trapping mice in the woods which upsets Uncle James, as he feels Terri might be getting enjoyment from the act of killing instead of merely taking care of a rodent problem.Enter John C. Reilly as Assistant Principal Mr. Fitzgerald, who appears to be in charge of all the school misfits. Fitzgerald is also an oddball himself, and pretends to yell at his charges behind closed doors, only to reassure them that's it's only an act. Fitzgerald tells the kids that the 'tough guy act' is primarily for the benefit of his secretary, Mrs. Hamish, who he views as needing some kind of invigoration as she is gravely ill and about to kick the proverbial bucket.A good part of the film revolves around Terri bonding with the kindly Mr. Fitzgerald. At first Terri feels betrayed by Fitzgerald after he claims to be giving Terri an exclusive peek at a childhood yearbook . But when Chad Markson (Terri's new potential friend and fellow outcast) informs Terri that Fitzgerald also let him take a look at the 'exclusive' yearbook, Terri turns on him, in a fit of jealousy. Later, Terri apologizes to Chad for 'losing it' and eventually grows closer to Fitzgerald, who by film's end, has morphed into the teenager's good 'buddy'.The plot thickens when Terri sticks up for the cute Heather Mills, who is also the victim of classroom bullies. Soon afterward Terri, Heather and Chad are popping pills (Uncle James' Alzheimer medication), down in the basement of Terri's home and strange things ensue. For one, Chad accepts a dare to urinate on his own pants. Later, Heather strips to her underclothes, and offers to have some kind of sexual contact with Terri. The shy Terri knows his limits and declines, but clearly Heather's offer has done wonders for his self-esteem.Nothing much happens after that! Fitzgerald takes Terri and Chad to Mrs. Hamish's funeral and later Fitzgerald reveals to Terri that he's been having some problems with his wife at home. The conflict with the bullies at school has been dropped and Fitzgerald never goes mano a mano with any of his disinterested colleagues.I'm sure 'Terri' has a good many boosters who are attracted to the offbeat characters and situations. But my problem with this kind of 'quirky' dramedy, is that there's something inherently distasteful in films of this ilk. Somehow the quirky outcasts (despite a few shortcomings) always manage to be of high noble stock, and the antagonists who they're pitted against, invariably are rotten to the core. It's a formula that's repeated over and over again and I find myself not wanting to root for the Terri's of this world, precisely because their underdog status is so undeserved (just about anyone would look good, if they were pitted against such nasty opponents).I enjoy watching John C. Reilly since he's in so many films and I always wonder what kind of character he's going to take on next. Here he's a sweet guy who's helping kids who need some positive reinforcement. Jacob Wysocki ably conveys the loner Terri but the character is too distasteful at times to be considered even near heroic. The same goes for Bridger Zadina as the equally weird Chad, who's urination routine at film's end, is also thoroughly off-putting. I kept wondering why Olivia Crocicchia as Heather ends up on the misfit list, considering that she's the cutest girl in the school. Finally, there's Creed Bratton as Uncle James. Catch the DVD extras and you'll be amazed that Bratton is a sensational blues singer and guitarist. Of course he should be, as he's the former member of the Grass Roots, the eminent pop rock band from the 60s.

napierslogs The tag-line for "Terri" is "We've all been there." Yes, we have all felt alienated at some point in our lives. But unlike Terri, most of us do not pro-actively alienate ourselves. Terri is in high school and life is difficult for him because he's weird, over-weight and just plain unlikable. We're supposed to feel sympathy for him, but I never liked him.He wears pyjamas to school (the same ones everyday), takes joy in the demise of animals, and has no thought of altering his behaviour when kids bully him. The only thing that seems to help is when Assistant Principal Mr. Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly) takes an interest in helping him and denotes him as a good-hearted student.I like John C. Reilly and I like the idea of the principal wanting to help out the less popular kids. Fitzgerald's tactics are unorthodox and certainly not illegal or even immoral, but in reality, they would definitely get him fired. Terri's would-be friends were more interesting characters but the pretty and popular Heather who was written as knowing how pretty she is would be less likely to engage in low self-esteem actions.Perhaps "Terri" isn't even trying to place itself in reality. I don't know. For such a simple, slow-moving film, there was a number of things that I didn't know. Some of which they didn't tell me, others I just didn't care enough to find out the answers for myself. If Terri doesn't care, why should I?