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Review #532 of 365
Movie Review of Sydney White (2007) [PG-13] 90 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.75
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 23 September 2007
Time: 3:50 pm
DVD Release Date: 22 January 2008 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
Soundtrack: order the CD below
Directed by: Joe Nussbaum (Sleepover)
Written by : Chad Creasey (Great Lengths)
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Amanda Bynes (Hairspray) • Sara Paxton (Aquamarine) • Matt Long (Ghost Rider) • Jack Carpenter (Lipshitz Saves the World) • Jeremy Howard (Accepted) • Crystal Hunt ("The Guiding Light") • Adam Hendershott ("Gilmore Girls") • Danny Strong ("Gilmore Girls") • Samm Levine (Pulse) • Libby Mintz (debut) • John Schneider ("Smallville") • Arnie Pantoja (99) • Donté Bonner (The Karaoke King)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Click to read the spoiler points for Sydney White
Relatively inexperienced screenwriter Chad Creasey and director Joe Nussbaum seemingly had a great time in seasoning Sydney White with as many cool Snow White references as possible—my personal favorites were "Hi Ho, Bye Ho" and the poison Apple computer virus (don't get me wrong, I love Apple, Inc—I am on my second lap top and have had nearly every model since the IIgs—yes, I'm a dork—but this was an awesome aspect of the story). The story starts out with Sydney White (Amanda Bynes) leaving dad (John Schneider) and traveling off to college by bus with but sappy speech about how her mother would have known just what to say and her mother's memory box filled with photos and items specifically for her first day of college.
"…a wonderfully refreshing and surprisingly empowering film set in modern times using age-old themes in a colorful and fun new way."
Miraculously, she's taken in to a little, broken down cottage, known affectionately as "The Vortex" because it sucks in losers, by seven dorks (which is meant in the nicest possible way). The dorks, while no longer short of stature, share the habits of their Snow White dwarf predecessors. There's the sleepy Embele (Donté Bonner), the sneezy Lenny (Jack Carpenter), the grumpy Gurkin (Danny Strong), and so on. Sydney White takes the dorks on, working with each to help him overcome his weakness be it being bashful or incapable of tying a knot. But, banishing Sydney White from the kingdom…er…sorority turns out isn't enough for Rachel Witchburn. Sydney's own rankings on the Hot or Not™ list have vaulted her to #2 on the list and the object of her desire, the handsome prince…er…Tyler Prince continues to shun her growing ever more enchanted with Sydney White. This is spoiling Rachel's plans for Tyler to become her future high-powered lawyer husband to be by her side when she runs for the Senate. Thus, Rachel vows to destroy her. First she sets her sights on humiliating the seven dorks very publicly, then she executes her plan to have The Vortex condemned putting an end to dorks on Greek Row, giving them no place to live, and replacing it with a Greek Life Center. Finally, she intends to thwart Sydney's plan to unseat her as Queen of the Realm…er…Student Body President by sabotaging Sydney's new 7th Power Party that has been galvanizing the disenfranchised students sick of campus rule by her minions…er…the Greeks. All in a day's work for an evil queen…er…prom queen.
When so much time, money, and talent these days is being spent on two kinds of films for teens: ones that glamorize the lifestyle of rich, alcohol / drug-using, shallow brats, and ones that theme lavishly on gross out scenes and the pursuit of nothing but sex, Sydney White proves that there is alternative entertainment that need not stoop or pander to the prurient and otherwise overly-adult curiosities of young adults. Moreover, while many films have tried to stay on the 'better' side of things avoiding these tendencies, this film sends extremely positive messages for young women and men. It understands the social awkwardness of feeling like one cannot be him or her self because the world has forced archetypes to which we are forced to cling. In denying these, the film encourages and fosters the breakdown of stereotypes and what should become the relics of a caste system that predetermines the lives of people who do not project into the Hollywood / MTV® panorama. Ironically, this perfect movie for teens, will likely be viewed as being too 'babyish' for them. They have been forced to grow up too fast, become involved in activities and behaviors long before their bodies and minds were mentally and physically prepared, and deal with the consequences and ramifications Hollywood and MTV® too often leave out of the story t a stage of development when they are, quite candidly, too emotionally vulnerable to handle them.
No doubt, the film will be described as being too cutesy. Some are going to challenge Amanda Bynes's abilities as an actress—"Isn't this sort of the same character she played in She's the Man?" they may ask. Who cares? If she has to play a similar character in her next 10 films in order to deconstruct for children and young adults all of the negative stereotypes of women in the USA then so be it. Her characters are wisely written, and she has the strength and ability to make them believable. There's nothing wrong with being feminine and strong. There's nothing wrong with being female and being a leader. And, there's nothing wrong with a male who finds strong women who are great and brilliant at whatever they choose to do to be wildly attractive. Matt Long takes on the important role of Tyler Prince with flair. His job was complicated because he too must break down stereotypes. The character of the rich, snobby, overly self-important fratboy male has been a poor role model for young men as well. Tyler's not really the guy who believes in hazing the pledges and mistreating those that the unenlightened perceive to be dorks. He, in fact, is not lusting after the beautiful though shallow Rachel Witchburn. So, at once he must break the mold of stereotypes of charismatic males as being entitled to belittle other males as well as being interested only in 1-dimensional, Prada-preoccupied females. Sara Paxton has both the unfortunate aspect of having to play both the villain and the stereotypical rich 'witch'. If she weren't so good at this role, the film wouldn't work. One disappointment, in fact, was that this new interpretation of Snow White did not yield a better outcome for the 'evil queen'. It would have been difficult not to turn too cornball, but once defeated, it could have been great if she had realized that living up to her own stereotype was consuming an immense amount of her true talent that could be better used in the pursuit of better life goals than trying to demoralize and humiliate everyone she perceives as weaker. The film does take the high road though in that rather than typically dumping goo and slime on the 'evil' queen to humble and humiliate her back, she simply loses a debate. Bravo to this nice touch.
Sydney White is a wonderfully refreshing and surprisingly empowering film set in modern times using age-old themes in a colorful and fun new way. Jaded older teens of today may avoid the film figuring a re-telling of Snow White is beneath them when there's the likes of the atrocious Superbad out there for them instead. So, fine, here's a film that's been rated by the MPAA as PG-13 for "some language, sexual humor and partying," that actually can be recommended to parents to take their 11-13 year-old kids to. There is one party scene where two guys drink beer from a keg upside down and the seven dorks end up naked (nothing is shown below the waste) due to a mean prank, but otherwise the film mostly does all the right things. Better kids see this than the vast majority of the other things pitched at them but really made by adults for adults.
Alternate Poster
(Click Poster to Purchase)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring Sydney White (2007)
Cast Members
Amanda Bynes
• Sara Paxton • Matt LongJack Carpenter
• Jeremy Howard • Crystal HuntAdam Hendershott
• Danny Strong • Samm LevineLibby Mintz
• Arnie PantojaDirector
Joe Nussbaum
Writer
Chade Creasey
1 comment:
Thanks for the great review. I really was not interested in seeing this film until I read your review. I love movies and will see just about anything, so I guess I will give this one a try. My wife may like it a lot.
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