Movie Review Sydney White (2007)

 

Sydney White | 2007 | 1h 48m
Genre: Romantic Comedy/Comedy/Drama/Romance | Country: US
Director: Joe Nussbaum | Writers: Chad Gomez Creasey
Cast: Amanda Bynes, Sara Paxton, Matt Long
IMDB: 6.2
My Rate: 9/10

Sydney, unable to join the same sorority as her mother due to the hatred of the sorority president, ends up joining the outcast sorority. This unexpected turn of events leads to a major change in campus life.

Warnings:

Contains violence, sensual scenes, nudity, and strong language.

 

Synopsis:

Sydney White (Amanda Bynes) is raised by her father after her mother's death. She grows up to be a tomboy, spending a lot of time with her father's friends at construction sites.  Eventually, she has to part ways to pursue her studies at the same university as her late mother.

Sydney desperately wants to join the same sorority as her mother, Kappa. Her mother found great friendship in the sorority, so Sydney has the same dream.

Sydney meets and befriends Dinky (Crystal Hunt), who is also a Kappa Legacy. They go to the Kappa house together. On the way, they meet Tyler (Matt Long), one of the fraternity presidents and Rachel's (Sara Paxton) ex-boyfriend, the Kappa president.

Tyler explains about the different fraternities and sororities on campus, including Vortex. Vortex has the worst house on campus and is filled with outcast students considered "weird." Rachel, watching their interaction from the window, is unhappy with the closeness between Tyler and Sydney.

Sydney and the other new girls who want to join Kappa have to follow all the activities planned by Rachel. Each activity has its own standard. However, Sydney seems different from the other girly girls, and this makes Rachel hate her even more. Especially since many people like Sydney, and she's on the list of popular girls, which is rarely accessible to new students.

At the initiation night, Rachel publicly humiliates Sydney and announces that she can't join Kappa. Sydney leaves the house and ends up in front of the Vortex house. The seven male residents of Vortex kindly accept Sydney to stay with them, even though Sydney had accidentally tricked Lenny when they first met, at Rachel's behest.

Sydney eventually settles in Vortex and plans to change their campus life by running for student council to defeat Rachel and keep the Vortex building.

Will Sydney's plan succeed?

 
Review:

Sydney White has a pretty interesting story, but it shares some similarities with the story of Snow White. Perhaps the writer drew inspiration from that story. Some things that seem similar are the presence of Rachel who resembles the evil queen, the seven outcast students who resemble the seven dwarves, and Tyler who appears like a prince charming.

Rachel, who seems powerful on campus and unbeatable, feels threatened by Sydney's presence. Just like the Queen who feels threatened by Snow White's presence. Unlike the Queen who asks the mirror, Rachel uses a more advanced medium, voting from the students.

The seven outcast students become Sydney's friends later, especially after Sydney is kicked out of Kappa. It's almost the same as Snow White, who ends up living with the seven dwarves after leaving the palace. Sydney helps these seven students and makes their lives better.

This story wouldn't be complete without a handsome prince. Tyler appears and becomes the handsome prince who eventually helps Snow White. There's even a scene where Tyler wakes Sydney up by kissing her, just like the prince who wakes up Snow White.

Although the overall story idea is almost the same, the presentation in a different and more modern way makes this film interesting. The story presented is simple and relatable to teenage life.

The story is systematic and easy to understand. The character's background and the story's foundation are built beautifully. Each character has a clear and strong personality. This makes the role have a good impact on the flow of the story.

The development of the conflict and the resolution of the story are also presented well. We can see the character development of each character. This makes the film not feel boring.

The acting of the cast is also good. I personally love Sara Paxton, who plays Rachel very well. As for Amanda Bynes, her acting is also good. However, the facial expressions she shows are a bit distracting, especially when Amanda plays with her lips.

A flaw that might be overlooked is about the vote on the "Hottest" website. It's not explained exactly how and who fills out the vote. On the other hand, there is dialogue where not many students vote in the Student Council election, so why would they bother to vote for "The Hottest?" Also, how does Sydney get a position on "The Hottest" when not many students seem to know her?

Another slightly illogical part of the story is how Terrence can still live in Vortex and attend classes, even though he graduated six years ago. Isn't there any regulation about this on campus? Is Terrence staying there for free?

Despite all this, this film is quite enjoyable to watch. Even with its light and engaging story, it can be an alternative to add to your rewatch list, especially for fans of romantic comedies.

 
Memorable Scene:

Sydney, publicly humiliated by Rachel, chooses to leave the Kappa initiation party and returns the dress she is wearing by ripping it apart as she leaves. This scene shows how confident Sydney is even when publicly humiliated. Additionally, she gains more sympathy from students on campus because of her courage.

 
Memorable Dialogue:

"We're all dorks."

 

Ending:

Happy Ending

 

Recommendation:

Must Watch

 

(Aluna)