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Parents' Guide to

Sydney White

By Betsy Bozdech, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Tween star hits college; drinking, hazing ensue.

Movie PG-13 2007 100 minutes
Sydney White Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 12+

Based on 4 parent reviews

age 15+

So cute... shame its filthy

This movie is adorable, with every awkward boy/girl moment mixed with revenge on the mean girl ending you crave. It's heart warming in that way, and how nice to have a movie for those non- girly girls and something celebrating odd balls. But for a movie "going against the grain" they sure fell right in line with gratuitous language (sh**, da**, a**, di**) and obsession with sex. Be prepared for mocking virginity, crass comments about breasts, obsessing about getting laid, and off color jokes. Its very cute, but your kids might need to be old enough that you're ready to talk about sexual positions, multiple partners, masterbation...

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much swearing
age 10+

Cute

It’s a modern fairy tale of a girl . It could be enjoyable and fun.

This title has:

Great messages

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (17 ):

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.

Movie Details

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