The House Bunny

If you want to see a cute, feel-good movie that doesn't require a lot of thought and will leave you with a smile on your face, this is the movie to see. You'll laugh out loud at much of the humor, and you'll fall in love with Anna Faris. It's just silly fun. Anna Farris plays a ditsy blond who gets kicked out of the Playboy Mansion (Hugh Hefner is a good sport in this movie!), ends up homeless, and ends up as a house mother for a sorority of "loser" girls (smart girls who don't know how to attract boys). The sorority is about to lose its charter because they can't get enough pledges, and of course Faris saves the day for the sorority by teaching the girls how to be popular, and, along the way, she learns a few lessons herself. You'll enjoy knowing that her love interest is played by Colin Hanks, son of Tom Hanks, and that some of the people in the Playboy mansion and at the party at the mansion are played by themselves. Also, Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore and Katherine McPhee from American Idol are girls in the sorority. I thoroughly enjoyed this light movie.

Shelley lives at the playboy mansion, and dreams of being a Playboy centerfold. The day after her birthday, she receives a letter telling her she has to move out. Ending up at the Zeta sorority house, a house in desperate need of pledges and money to stay open, she helps the girls, all outcasts at college to become sexier to get what they need, while they help her with a guy she has a crush on.....

The House Bunny shouldn't work. It's got a mixed message, suggesting that girls need to use their sexiness to get what they need, while at the same time saying being yourself, with some confidence, and you can get the same. So in that sense I don't think it completely works.

However, it is very funny in places. Anna Faris is showing herself to be a very funny actress, and keeps the humour coming through-out. Hers is the best performance here. The actress's who play the girls in the house are all different, but give good performances too, with the possible exception of Emma Stone as Natalie, the girl in charge of the house. It's not that she's a bad actress. I saw her recently in The Rocker and she was very good there. It's just that here, she seems to be trying too hard to portray the 'nerd' side of her character. It's not a bad performance, just a little uneven.

The script has some good one-liners in it, and director Fred Wolf keeps things moving at a brisk pace. It's not the funniest teen comedy I've seen, but it has enough moments to keep you smiling, and for it's running time is an enjoyable movie.

Shelley (Anna Faris) was abandoned as a baby on someone's doorstep long ago. As she relates, no one was interested in getting her back although they did request that the basket be returned! Shuttled from one orphanage to another, Shelley eventually found a "family" when her womanish figure came into fruition. That's right, Shelley resided in the Playboy mansion and found happiness with Hef and the other gal pal housemates. However, one day Shelley receives word that Hef has given her two hours to move out of the mansion. A fellow worker at the residence suggests that, perhaps, she is getting too old to be a bunny. After all, didn't she just turn 27? And, isn't that like 59 in "bunny years"? So, off Shelley goes, hurt and scared. After a day on her own, she stumbles onto a nearby college campus and learns that she could possibly find a job, a home, and a salary by becoming a sorority "mother" to a group of misfit sisters. These gals, the Zetas, have seen their numbers shrink, mostly because they are all shy and a bit unconventional (among them, Katharine McPhee and Rumer Willis). The college has already told them that if they don't find new members, the Zeta house will be shut down. It is going to be Shelley's biggest challenge to turn the sorority into an attractive place for the new students. Can she do it? Perhaps, Shelly could ask for the help and advice of a nursing home director, Oliver (Colin Hanks), a nice man she met in a park? After a brief, blase beginning, this film packs a good punch of light comedy and romance. Part of the credit should go to the very nice cast. Faris is wonderful in her role as the dimwitted bunny who has more than enough smarts to learn a few new tricks and Hanks, in a smaller role, is quite nice as the love interest. The Zeta girls themselves, especially Rumer Willis and Emma Stone, are a delightful bunch of offbeat creatures that learn some lessons themselves. The rest of the cast, including Christopher McDonald and Beverly D'Angelo, is good, also. The costumes, naturally, are very fine, as this is a gal-dominated movie and clothes are especially important. But, the sunny sets, cinematography, screenplay, and direction are up to snuff as well. No, it's not Willie Shakespeare but the flick is definitely a good diversion from the everyday blues. It's a likely bet that you will find this "Bunny" to be quite funny indeed.

Anna Faris makes this paper thin attempt at comedy overwhelmingly worthwhile. She is an original that reminded me of some other glories, from Carole Lombard to Goldie Hawn. Her innocence is so believable that we go with her wherever she decides to go. I wish the producers and responsible for this movie getting made had gone all the way and provided this extraordinary comic talent with a more substantial script and direction giving her the opportunity to shine even more than she shines here and here shine she does, big time. Just look at her listening, trying to make sense of what's happening around her. Deeply moving, very funny, kind of unique. I hope she soon finds her Garson Kanin and her George Cukor. I have the feeling we ain't seen nothing yet

Let me just say that I'm 19, a guy, and straight, and DAMN was I having a great time watching The House Bunny. To sum it up, THB is basically an Adam Sandler movie for girls, with Anna Faris breathing life into an otherwise flat movie with her uncanny comic ability and unbeatable charm. In short, she makes the movie watchable, and in some moments, likable and entertaining.

I see this film as one that most will easily dismiss without a second look, and I really discourage you from doing that. Anna Faris alone deserves your attention in this movie, as she is brilliant. I even heard a few people in my theater say that she could get a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy. I honestly wouldn't be surprised. She's lovable, adorable, intelligently stupid, and of course, roll on the floor hilarious. She's the reason the Scary Movie series is so much 'better' than the other movies in that series (Date, Superhero, Epic Movies), and her charm and charisma carries over here.

In addition to Faris, the strength of the film is the supporting cast (except Hugh Hefner, who gets a pass for simply being Hugh Hefner). The funny thing is, most of the performers aren't even actors. I'm not going to lie and say Rumer Willis is brilliant, because she's not, but she's funny and is good looking enough to surprise us. Katharine McPhee doesn't get enough screen time, but she does do a great job with what she's given. The last of the 'non-actors' is the frontman for The All American Rejects, Tyson Ritter, who is tolerable in a bit part.

Now, unsurprisingly, the best supporters are Kat Dennings and the WONDERFUL Emma Stone (Jules from Superbad). Stone is so likable and adorable that she's the best character in the movie after Faris. Colin Hanks is...well, I for one was surprised that he did this movie, but he was an asset nonetheless.

I'll go ahead and get my complaints out now. First and foremost, whoever edited this movie is absolutely terrible. Whether it be changing hairstyles, continuity errors, or bad cuts, the editing is noticeably bad, especially towards the end. I also didn't like the direction the script took in the end, as it turned the film into a parody of itself (which was weird considering the entire film was a parody of stupid girls and stupid men), and displayed several out of character moments. The jokes were a tad lame and predictable outside of Faris's character (there was NOTHING bad about her), but it was okay. There were some smart jokes that actually took some time to get.

The final plus for this movie is that it is LOADED with cameos. Since you know who the production company is, you already know the group that will be appearing, plus a surprise appearance from 2 NFL quarterbacks (one retired QB, and one current) in the beginning. All in all, The House Bunny is surprisingly funny, all because of Anna Faris and Emma Stone, both of whom have very bright futures ahead of them. Faris is definitely one of the funniest ladies alive.