Sydney White

What stands out first about Sydney White is the confidence with which Joe Nussbaum establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Sydney White asks Amanda Bynes and Sara Paxton to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Sydney White is established with useful clarity: After being banished from the most popular sorority on campus, Sydney White teams up with a group of socially awkward outcasts to outdo the queen at her own game. That direct approach lets Sydney White use its 1h 48m running time for character, atmosphere and consequence.

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What Sydney White has to say is rooted in embarrassment, status and the gap between confidence and reality. The experience of Amanda Bynes carries that question through Sydney White without reducing the character to an example. A difficult choice helps Sydney White test the theme through consequence instead of explanation. When Joe Nussbaum allows ambiguity to remain, Sydney White becomes more involving than a simple statement of intent.

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The directorial personality of Sydney White comes from Joe Nussbaum remaining alive in individual scenes and uncertain between them when the premise invites excess. Within Sydney White, Joe Nussbaum repeatedly favours readable choices over attention seeking flourishes. That discipline explains why the cast and craft keep the experience watchable in Sydney White rather than appearing only in isolated scenes. Where Sydney White becomes less convincing, too many scenes explain effects the actors have already suggested, and the loss of control is noticeable without becoming fatal.

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Sydney White finds its clearest story engine when Sydney White comes into conflict with the central character. That engine gives Amanda Bynes something concrete to pursue and protects Sydney White from empty movement. In the hands of Chad Gomez Creasey, an important relationship becomes a useful complication rather than a detached twist within Sydney White. The final use of a difficult choice is familiar, but Sydney White has already established enough context for the turn to matter.

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Performance is the clearest human asset in Sydney White, beginning with the committed centre provided by Amanda Bynes. Sara Paxton keeps Sydney White from settling into one emotional register by approaching the material from another angle. The presence of Matt Long gives the surrounding world of Sydney White additional texture without distracting from the main line. When Joe Nussbaum holds on a reaction, Sydney White communicates more efficiently than another explanatory exchange could manage.

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A close look at Sydney White reveals how comic timing built around character carries information that the dialogue wisely leaves alone. Under the production banner of Morgan Creek Entertainment, Sydney White treats comic timing built around character as part of its storytelling grammar. Well judged reactions gives Sydney White a stronger sense of place within its United States context. The technical departments of Sydney White remain coordinated, so polish supports involvement instead of creating distance.

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For comedy fans who respond to personality and timing, Sydney White is ultimately an uneven film with enough personality to remain interesting. Its most persuasive combination in Sydney White brings Amanda Bynes together with well judged reactions under the direction of Joe Nussbaum. The fact that too many scenes explain effects the actors have already suggested prevents Sydney White from being entirely seamless. Even with that reservation, Sydney White has a clear point of view and enough genuine feeling to justify the journey.