"We're all dorks!" That's the reassuring message of Sydney White (Universal), a quirky campus comedy about an irrepressible tomboy who becomes the guiding spirit of a group of outcasts at her college.
As raised by her widowed plumber father (John Schneider), Sydney White (Amanda Bynes) is a young lady with a good deal of self-confidence and no airs. Yet she leaves home for college hoping to join the prestigious sorority to which her late mother once belonged.
Sydney soon gains the support of another sorority pledge, Dinky (Crystal Hunt), and of Tyler (Matt Long), a fraternity brother who's quickly smitten with her. Tyler's ex-girlfriend, the snooty sorority president, Rachel (Sara Paxton), on the other hand, is far from impressed. She eventually manages to sabotage Sydney's application for membership, and sends her into social exile.
With nowhere on campus to live, Sydney turns to the residents of "the Vortex," a ramshackle dorm populated by seven of the school's most marginalized students. These collegiate underdogs — typified by the endearing, panallergic Lenny (Jack Carpenter) and the socially inept, intellectually eccentric Terrence (Jeremy Howard) — take her in, and she rapidly becomes their housemother and champion.
Questioned about the state of their living quarters, her new friends explain to Sydney that the student council, of which Rachel is also president, is entirely controlled by, and run for the benefit of, the campus's Greek letter societies. But nothing can be done, they assure her, because no one can unseat Rachel. Even as her romance with Tyler continues, Sydney decides to find out if that's true.
The clever re-imagining of a venerable fairy tale (the title is a tip-off as to which one), director Joe Nussbaum's film is for the most part an appealingly innocent romance. It also possesses a commendable set of moral values.
These are best exemplified in a scene which comes as a surprise both to Sydney and to the audience, revealing as it does an unexpectedly generous aspect of Tyler's character. At other points in the film, Tyler also shows himself to be vulnerable, sympathetic and tolerant.
These qualities, and Sydney's positive response to them, form the basis of a relationship that is not only idyllic, but mature and enduring as well. And therein lies the promise of a genuinely happy ending.
The film contains some crass language, some innuendo, implied nudity, alcohol use, brief gay references and a transvestite poet. Such elements may make the film unsuitable for teens. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
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