Sydney White

"C'mon, why make the same mistake twice?" might be your general response after seeing the darling and always over the top Amanda Bynes flick but I think you know what's coming. It wasn't so bad. Okay so I gave everyones favorite Iron Man a lukewarm review and had a horrible reaction to Another Cinderella Story, but honestly Amanda Bynes is starting to do no harm. She's becoming my new Mandy Moore (new teen love.) The girl is either desperate for a pay check or incredibly intelligent in the roles/films and television she stars in. How can it not be a hit? We all remember her from All That which eventually sprouted out to her own show, but you know what? These Nickelodeon stars know what they're doing. Little Amanda used to be this fresh faced, innocent young girl with an over dramatic response to everything and a loud voice but the thing that works for her is that even when she's gotten older she can still laugh at herself.

Let's take some of the Disney princess in account. Poor, poor Miley Cyrus has been caught stating that she's sick of Hannah Montana and wants out of her contract so she's not playing the same role forever and doesn't become typecast. She's becoming a young woman and wants more slutty freedom, fine. Now let's look at Hilary Duff's career after the Lizzy Mcguire movie. She did a couple cute film like A Cinderella Story (Disney) then went on to do Agent Cody Banks with Frankie Muniz (MGM) soon after a minor role in Cheaper by the Dozen 1 and 2 (Fox) and then it all went down hill. As soon as she tried a lead role again (Raise your voice) she was nominated many razzie awards and it all back fired.

I probably shouldn't say this, but I would milk the Disney cash cow forever. Eventually they'll have to put a halt to your show once you become a young woman, and ratings will start to drop but really, why would you give it all up? Artistic freedom? These girls just want to do "serious" roles and act more "grown up" but for some reason are stuck in the nightmare of their own making. I have a diving feeling that Disney can make and break you all in the same day. They may not be evil, but something about them and the way they market young adults and steer their careers is corrupt. It never really ends well, unless you're Anne Hathaway, who put up and shut up until her contract was up. So to these girls, grin and bear it because after you ride the Disney train, you might never be popular again.

Back to Sydney White. Amanda Bynes clearly has been doing something right in the past because while all her films aren't necessarily award winning, they're surprisingly interesting to watch and offer more than the average Disney wannabe films. Amanda has some sort of knack for comedic genius, even if she's completely bat shit crazy. In almost all her movies she plays the same character in different settings and the older she gets the more attractive she is in that goofball, best friend, next door neighbor who grew up to be hot, way.

This film takes the plot of Snow White AKA Sydney White (get it? Isn't that like so crazy?) and places the main character (Bynes) in a college setting where she dreams of pledging with her dead mothers sorority. When queen bee Rachel disapproves of Sydney's un-lady like habits she sets her up to fail and kicks her out of the pledge house. Homeless, Sydney takes refuge in a run down house nicknamed the vortex (because it attracts losers/geeks.) There she meets the seven dorks who live as social outcasts due to one oversleeping, one with an allergy problem, one whose always grumpy about college life, one whose incredibly smart, one incredibly shy so he talks through a sock puppet, one whose really dopey and the last one a virgin womanizer who dreams of getting laid.

Now this all might sound a bit too odd and extreme but this film really ended up creating an interesting story around the classic fairytale. It wasn't really anything we've seen before but the modernized details were a hell of a lot more interesting than Another Cinderella Story. At least each character was unique and the plot remained steady. My biggest complaint for Disney's Cinderella disaster was that it used up it's Cinderella plot within the first forty minutes and left the rest of the film to be about dancing and singing. That would be fine in a musical attempt like High School Musical where they dispense disbelief by breaking into songs at the worst times, but Cinderella didn't cut it.

Sydney White, besides Bynes performances, had the best cast of actors to play the seven dorks. Some looked familiar as possible extras from films/television shows but the ones recognizable were worth seeing. Danny Strong who played the beloved Jonathon on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, seems to look eternally twelve and still has a knack for playing geek. Samm Levine who played Neal Schrieber from Freaks and Geeks plays the horny virgin and blends in with the odd yet great cast of geeks.

Verdict: Although it's still a generic film aimed towards teens and preteens, I think others may enjoy the classic Snow White story with a twist. It is filled with a few laughable scenes between the dorks, but also with unintentional laughable ploys such as a poisonous apple which is really an apple computer that gets a virus. Another embarrassing twist is a hot or not ranking on campus that ranks the hotness of each girl. Guess who knocks Rachel from the number one spot? Filled with a few curse words and slight sexuality it's still a film for younger kids as well as older, something Bynes is blessed in doing with her films.