Available at Amazon.com
Director
Joe Nussbaum
Cast
Amanda Bynes ………. Sydney White
Sara Paxton ………. Rachel Witchburn
Matt Long ………. Tyler Prince
Jack Carpenter ………. Lenny
Jeremy Howard ………. Terrence Lubinecki
Crystal Hunt ………. Demetria Rosemead ‘Dinky’ Hotchkiss
Adam Hendershott ………. Jeremy
Danny Strong ………. Gurkin
Samm Levine ………. Spanky
Libby Mintz ………. Christy
John Schneider ………. Paul White
Arnie Pantoja ………. George
Donté Bonner ………. Embele
Brian Patrick Clarke ………. Professor Carleton
Lauren Leech ………. Katy
The Movie
Apparently Amanda Bynes “mastery” of the updated Shakespearean comedy is over, as she’s moved on to updating Disney classics for the young teen set. To little fanfare, she starred in yet another film aimed at young girls in Sydney White.
Bynes stars as the titular character, a modern day take on the tale of Snow White. The daughter of a blue collar worker, she’s a college freshman looking to rush a sorority. When her tomboy behavior gets her thrown out of the sorority her mother belonged to, she’s taken in by a group of seven guys with questionable social habits. From there it’s a mater of Sydney developing their talents and abilities, as well as save their house from the head of the student council Rachel (Sara Paxton).
And just like every other film she stars in, Bynes raises the level of material from excrement to borderline entertaining by her mere presence. She has such a wonderful quality to her and one of the great screen presences of her generation; for such bad material she brings such a charming presence that watching the film is tolerable. Like She’s The Man, the film is a trainwreck of bad writing and demonstrably bad acting which is developed for those with an IQ that barely hits the double digits. There are lots of terrible attempts at humor and a cast of characters that would get picked on by the Tri-Lams. While Bynes’ presence makes the whole situation tolerable, and there is plenty of eye candy to make the film not a horrible experience, there are some moments when the film isn’t noxious to all five senses.
Don’t be mistaken; this film has nothing of value. It’s a third rate version of Revenge of the Nerds meshed with one of the great fairy tales.
A/V QUALITY CONTROL
Presented in a Dolby Digital format, with a widescreen presentation, the film has a great audio/visual presentation. This is a film that’s got a lot of color and a solid soundtrack and both come through wonderfully on the DVD release.
The Extras
There’s a Gag Reel, as well as the usual set of Deleted Scenes that come with an introduction from Nussbaum as to why they were deleted.
The rest of the features are extended fluff pieces. The Original Dork is quick seven minute feature on Nussbaum, with the cast and crew chiming in on what it was like to work with him. Pure fluff piece is what it’s mostly about, as is Sydney and her Prince. This is a quick feature on Bynes and Matt Long, with the cast and crew chiming in on how wonderful it was to work with each of them. Meet the Dorks is a feature on the “Dorks” who are the stand-in for the dwarves of the original story. Kappa’s Forever is about the gals who played White’s nemesis in the film. The Skooze is a quick feature about the puppet used in the film by one of the Dorks. Welcome to the Vortex is a quick feature on one of the film’s major sets, the Vortex, which is the equivalent of the cottage in the woods.
There’s also the Original Theatrical Trailer as well.
| The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Sydney White | |
| CATEGORY | RATING(OUT OF 10) |
| THE MOVIE | 2.5 |
| THE VIDEO | 8.5 |
| THE AUDIO | 8.5 |
| THE EXTRAS | 1.0 |
| REPLAY VALUE | 2.5 |
| OVERALL | 1.0(NOT AN AVERAGE) |
