Once upon a time, there was a girl called Sydney White. When she was just a girl, her mother died so Sydney was raised by her plumber father and his construction worker mates. After school, the tomboy Sydney went off to college, and tried to join her beloved mother's old Sorority house, Kappa.
But there she encountered the beautiful yet evil head girl Rachael Witchburn, who made her life a misery. So she was forced to find refuge in the Vortex, a rambling old house where she met the 7 dorks…. There was the sleepy dork, the grumpy dork, the bashful dork… and you get my drift… Sydney White is an innocuous teen comedy based on the fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs…
Sydney and the evil Rachael are continually battling it out for supremacy, and it gets tedious. The film lacks the sophistication and depth of others in this genre, such as the wonderful “Election” starring Reese Witherspoon. All the actors do their best but the roles are clichéd and self-conscious leaving little room for any real moments of emotional connection.
Amanda Byrnes plays Sydney with enthusiasm but her performance is nowhere near the greatness she achieved in Hairspray. The idea is clever and with a more intelligent script and sharper direction it could have been really terrific. Unfortunately it relies heavily on gags and cuteness and very little on wit.
For light entertainment, where not much thought is required, Sydney White is silly, fun and easy to watch. 2.5 stars. Sydney White is in cinemas now
