Sydney White (2007) Reviews

• Not the most original, but sweet, harmless and entertaining!

  mollymormonbrat2007-09-22

  Maybe I just haven't seen a good "teen girl" movie in so long. In fact, I don't remember the last time I went and saw a "teen girl" movie. Maybe if there were more out there was fun as this, I would. Basically, I had boring, rainy Saturday and a little sister. The trip to the theatre wound up with the two us laughing our heads off and all the appropriate "aww" moments. The premise is a modern-day Snow White on a college campus. A little contrived, but hey, it apparently worked. Sydney is your average tomboy who is under all sorts of pressure to pledge herself to her dead mother's old sorority. Well, the sorority girls are no longer what they used to be, and the pampered princesses throw Sydney out into the rain. She winds up taking refuge at the Vortex, a student housing building where lives the guy she dumped for a sorority mission and his six bizarre roommates. Honestly, I didn't think it would work. But it did, and besides the cuteness there is a little more moral meat as Sydney and her new friends lead a student body revolution. Yeah, it's cheesy and we've seen the revenge-of-the-nerds theme many a time before, but it's so goodhearted and fun that I couldn't help but love it, stereotypes, predictability, and all. All the characters seemed very much into their roles. I wouldn't say I'm an Amanda Bynes fan, but she failed to annoy me this time around! It was a great blend of an old story with modern college life with clever, roll-your-eyes references to the original Disney animated film. It might bother some people, but as a Snow White fan I thought they were cute. It's definitely a girl movie, I'll give you that, so if you can't put up with the silliness and the cheesiness, you will not enjoy it. But if you're a girl looking for a cute movie with a lot of harmless fun, this will hit the spot. This is one I will definitely buy on DVD and watch when I need something light and fun. Not the most artistic of film making and not a whole lot of focus on in-depth characters and originality, but as a former teenage girl, I will happily give this adorable little film 7/10 for sheer sweetness, a good heart, and a passion for doing the right thing. Sometimes we just need that girly spunk.

• A genuinely good movie

  Slwells58152007-09-22

  In our day and age, it's very difficult to find a truly funny film that is also fairly sweet and innocent. Having grown up as a fairy tale princess wannabe, I've seen my share of fairy tale spin-offs, and this has by far been the best one. I was almost afraid to watch this movie, seeing as it was PG-13 and that doesn't really mean anything anymore (could be clean, like Sydney White, could be completely raunchy). However, I was pleasantly surprised by its clever writing. Some may complain that it is too stereotypical with the cliques, but I would point out that the gorgeous Prince Charming is also a genuinely decent guy, not just Mr. Popularity as in most films. I mean, let's face it: fairy tales were pretty stereotypical to begin with. Evil queens, handsome princes, princesses in danger or in hiding, or regular girls becoming princesses. But that doesn't make it any less of a good story. Overall, I found it highly entertaining and terrifically charming. Truly heartwarming to a fairy tale fan like myself, and even to my dad, who decided to accompany me to the movie because he had nothing better to do--and believe me, it's not easy to entertain my dad with 'chick flicks'. Predictable, maybe. But who really wants to see the evil witch win in the end?

• Modern Day Fairy Tale...

  jaddison3832007-09-22

  Don't we all wish our lives could be fairy tales??? In this movie, that's exactly what one naive and tomboyish girl named Sydney White gets. To us, it seems like a rather familiar story. What Amanda Bynes is so good at is delivering clean and funny teen and family comedies. She is a very funny actress, and continues to be respectable by not screwing up her life like most actresses her age. She's cute as Sydney, though her tan was not. It was quite over-done in fact. Besides her the ones who steal the show are, of course, the dorks (aka dwarfs). They are certainly adorable, and we can't help but think that Sydney has found the best possible friends on campus. The downfall in the cast was Sara Paxton as the arch-nemesis Rachel WITCHburn. She just didn't seem quite evil enough for me. Crystal Hunt was also not that great as Sydney southern friend Dinky. There are some laugh-out-loud moments and one-liners. The most fun part of the movie is catching the fairy tale parts as they come. That and watching the dorks. "Sydney White" is a fine family film and will even work well for teens, and it has a very nice message. However, it never reaches any kind of high point and kind of just seems to go on at a continuous rate. Still, it's worth a watch as a diversion from reality and back into fairy tale world. 6/10 stars! Jay Addison

• Pleasant

  jlj9675-12007-09-22

  I found this simple tale charming and entertaining. It was funny without filth. The cinematography was quite lovely in many spots. It was fun to see John Schneider in a mature role for the first time in a long while. I feel that Amanda is a lovely, talented young girl who did a good job with the role. All the geeks were comical and interesting in their own individual ways. The facial expressions of George were absolutely endearing and evoked hilarious laughter several times. I found myself wanting to bring them all home for a good meal! I especially liked the excellent life-lesson shown for all of our society and wholeheartedly recommend this film for everyone over the age of 12. Younger kids just won't get it nor enjoy it.

• Snow White and the seven dorks

  brettchatz-12007-10-05

  Sydney White stars popular actress Amanda Bynes as the new girl in an elite college sorority. The Kappa Sisterhood is made up of a group of size 2 beautiful clones, all praising their mean-spirited leader, Rachel Witchburn (Sara Paxton). As Sydney's popularity rises, Rachel begins to feel threatened by her. And so begins a story of rejection; acceptance and love. Sydney meets the handsome Beta fraternity leader Tyler (Matt Long) who is besotted by the good-natured Sydney. With seven new geeky friends in the vortex house, Sydney decides to run for student president. Some good clean comedy ensues. Sydney White is a teen girl's dream movie; lots of romanticised idealism and a warm-fuzzy ending