Sydney White (PG-13, 2007)

A modern take on the classic fairy tale about a jealous queen, a displaced princess, and seven quirky guys living together in the woods, SYDNEY WHITE follows tomboy Sydney (Amanda Bynes) as she leaves for college, determined to follow in her deceased mom's footsteps and pledge Kappa Phi Nu sorority. And pledge she does -- much to the dismay of ice queen chapter president Rachel Witchburn (Sara Paxton), who takes an instant dislike to Sydney when she sees "her" guy, Tyler Prince (Matt Long), flirting with the newcomer. Rachel vows to make Sydney's life miserable, and she does it so well that Sydney ends up out in the rain with nowhere to go ... except the ramshackle house known as The Vortex, which seven sci-fi-loving "freaks" call home. The guys -- allergy-prone (aka "Sneezy") Lenny (Jack Carpenter), eager Tiger Scout (aka "Dopey") George (Arnie Pantoja), angry blogger (aka "Grumpy") Gurkin (Danny Strong), cheerfully sex-obsessed (aka "Happy") Spanky (Samm Levine), jet-lagged (aka "Sleepy") Embele (Donté Bonner), shy puppet wielder (aka "Bashful") Jeremy (Adam Hendershott), and mad-scientist-in-training (aka "Doc") Terrence (Jeremy Howard) -- don't have much experience with girls, but Sydney's frank nature and positive outlook win them over, and soon she's urging them to run against Rachel for Student Council and really make a difference. Meanwhile, Sydney gives Rachel a run for her money on the school's online "Hot or Not" list, turns her fellow Kappa pledges on to the pleasures of eating a real breakfast, embarks on a tentative relationship with Tyler, and beams perkily in almost every situation.

There's a reason Amanda Bynes is beloved by tweens everywhere. She's down-to-earth, funny, and cute as a button -- plus, she actually looks like a real person, rather than a stick-thin waif. She puts her abundant charm to good use as Sydney in this fairy tale update that is clever and amusing in spots and overly precious and cutesy in others.

Sydney White's story is hardly groundbreaking, and the stereotyped characterizations get a bit old -- in addition to the shallow, blond sorority sisters and Klingon-fluent nerds, the movie presents a parade of single-note student groups (the ROTC kids are buff and stoic, the Jewish kids all have side-curls and dance the horah, etc.) -- but the movie has its moments. Some of the Snow White references are funny, if verging on crude (like when the Vortex gang marches past Rachel in a line, greeting her with a chorus of "hi, ho"s), and the cast is genuinely appealing. Tweens who are used to seeing Bynes in movies like What a Girl Wants may not be quite prepared for Sydney White's boisterous fraternity party scenes or the Kappa sisters' cruel pledge hazing, but teens who've grown up with the star since her days on All That and The Amanda Show may have just found their new favorite slumber party movie.

Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Joe Nussbaum
Cast: Amanda Bynes, Matt Long, Sara Paxton
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 100 minutes
Theatrical release: September 20, 2007
DVD release: January 22, 2008
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: some language, sexual humor and partying.