Starring Amanda Bynes and Sara Paxton. Rated PG.

The first year of college is an ordeal of homework, laundry, and weight gain unless you are a fairy-tale character, in which case you're going to reform the sorority system, befriend lonely students, and become the hottest girl on campus. Such is the fate of Snow White, aka Sydney White, college freshman.

In this version of the tale, the dark-haired subject of envious sorcery is an American Everyteen, played by Amanda Bynes. Sydney is a humble and meek (if curvy and tanned) daughter of a plumber, out of her element among the elite debutantes of sorority row. These haughty blonds are presided over by Rachel Witchburn (Sara Paxton, the saintly and clueless mermaid in last year's Aquamarine), tyrannical leader of the Kappa Phi Nu, and top-ranked female of the college's "Hot or Not" page.

Because her late mother (moms are always dead in fairy tales) was a Kappa, Sydney is entitled to pledge for the sorority. But her friendly mien and lack of eating disorder make her an oddity among the sisterhood, while her affable interaction with campus hot guy Tyler Prince (Matt Long) incites Witchburn's jealous retribution.

In as much time as it takes to describe these creaky plot machinations, Sydney finds herself out of the Kappas and into the realm of the Vortex, a ramshackle building inhabited by seven nerds. (Sydney White and the Seven Dorks geddit? Apparently, Morgan Creek Productions did not, axing the title after production started.)

As a fellow nerd (one of her two suitcases is filled with her collection of Usagi Yojimbo comics), Sydney fits in well with the gang. But she also aspires to raise them from their state of social death, entering them into the student-council elections. This gives director Joe Nussbaum an opportunity to construct three separate montages of furious antics set to pop music (not, unfortunately, "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks") as the dorks reinvent themselves. It would all seem quite horrible, except that the antics are actually funny and Bynes, with her round, stricken, and expressive face, is a breakout movie star.