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
