Sydney White

"Things are looking grim, brothers."

Sydney White (Bynes) plans to honor her mother's memory by pledging the same fraternity, at the same college.  The head of the Kappa sorority, Rachel (Paxton), sees Sydney as a threat, and drives her out of the sorority.  Without a place to live, Sydney plans to throw in the towel and go home... but she finds a home in the Vortex house.

The Vortex house is populated by misfits: Lenny (Carpenter) is allergic to everything, Terence (Howard) is a socially awkward genius who is always in the middle of an experiment, Jeremy (Hendershott) only talks through a puppet, Gurkin (Strong) writes an angry blog, Spanky (Levine) is a self-proclaimed ladies man, George (Pantoja) is child-like and wears a Junior Tiger Guide uniform, and Embele (Bonner) is an exchange student from Kenya who still hasn't adjusted to the time change.  With her seven dorks, Sydney takes on the greek system and queen bee Rachel, while falling for the king of Greek row Tyler (Long).


A modern retelling of the Snow White story.  Some parallels are obvious, like the names: Rachel Witchburn is the villain, Tyler Prince is the love interest, and the apple virus.  Other parallels take a little longer, but they are there.  The seven guys from Vortex each represent one of Snow White's dwarfs: Lenny is Sneezy, Terence is Doc, Jeremy is Bashful, Gurkin is Grumpy, Spanky is Happy, George is Dopey, and Embele is Sleepy.  The guys are pretty one-dimensional, but they get some great lines... and all work well together.  Strong is probably the most recognizable, for his supporting roles in various TV shows / movies.

The story is very similar to the college comedy The House Bunny... where a pretty girl takes in a group of outcasts, imbues them with confidence, and makes the world see their beauty.  But unlike that film, the supporting characters are more interesting than the main character.  Amanda Bynes is a decent actress, good comedian, but she is not the most interesting person in a lead role.  She is fine here, but the guys are more interesting.  Sara Paxton is great as the scheming Rachel.  The character is one-dimensional, but you enjoy your time on screen.  The rest of the cast is serviceable, but none really stand out, other than the seven guys.

It isn't the best Snow White adaptation, or rom com, but it isn't bad for Friday-night mindless entertainment / white noise.

Sydney White (2007) 108 minutes
Rated: PG-13 for some language, sexual humor and partying
Director: Joe Nussbaum
Starring: Amanda Bynes as Sydney White
Sara Paxton as Rachel Witchburn
Matt Long as Tyler Prince
Jack Carpenter as Lenny
Jeremy Howard as Terence
Adam Hendershott as Jeremy
Danny Strong as Gurkin
Samm Levine as Spanky
Arnie Pantoja as George
Donte Bonner as Embele