Sydney White

Sydney White is an up-to-date retelling of the Snow White story, which has a predictable premise: nice, feisty tomboy foils super bitchy alpha woman with the help of seven misfits. But despite its inevitability, it is a really likeable film, thanks in part to the acting of Amanda Bynes as Sydney, Matt Long as her boyfriend, Tyler, and the assured hand of director Joe Nussbaum, who keeps the film bouncing and bubbling along.

The geek world is full of Star Wars references, comic book heroes and nods to Lord Of The Rings and the actors who play the dorks are uniformly good and fun to watch. But they are allowed to be by the generous acting of Bynes, who manages to be the centre of attention at the same time as allowing the dorks their short stints in the spotlight.

I can’t help being irritated by the fact the villain of these comedies is always over-painted. Regardless of how wealthy and influential her family are, someone as bitchy and insecure as Rachel (Sara Paxton) would never be voted the president of anything.

The other minor problem for anyone who isn't American, is that universities elsewhere simply do not function in the same way, with their sorority houses that are stereotypical cliques in to which you have to be ‘initiated’. That said, if you suspend disbelief, there is enough humour to keep your interest and the plays on the original, the magic mirror, the poisonous apple (a crashed Apple computer), the Prince Charming, the re-animating kiss, the aforementioned seven sidekicks and the evil nemesis are all successfully woven into the fabric of the film.

Towards the end, the film does become a little sidetracked by its message that nerdy is good, and the script writing isn’t exactly ground-breaking, but that is not to detract from the fact that this is an undemanding, amusing diversion that you cannot help smiling at.