Anna Faris Movie:

Editorial Review:
"I'm an expert in parties and boys. I'm a Bunny! Men write to me from prison--sometimes in their own blood!" So declares ex-Playboy Bunny Shelley, tossed out of the Mansion by a rival for her advanced age (27--"59 in bunny years," she's told). As played by the utterly fearless and appealing Anna Faris, Shelley becomes an unlikely post-feminist heroine, who finds a great use for her not-too-considerable expertise: being sexy. With nowhere else to live, Shelley finds herself as the house mother for a dying sorority, the Zetas, who are the audience for the rallying cry above. And the slightly misfit sisters, though wary, end up giving Shelley a sisterhood she could never have built back at the Grotto. To help build up the sorority, Shelley gives the young women her own peculiar tutorials in charm school--helping them raise their campus profile and recruit new pledges in the process. "When I'm done, every girl on campus will want to pledge Zeta!" Ignore her at your peril, girls. If the formula is a bit predictable, the pace is lively and the cast, headed by the wide-eyed Faris, is aces. American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee is a natural on camera, as is Rumer Willis, daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. The supporting cast includes the capable Colin Hanks and Beverly D'Angelo, and a bit too much screen time for the real-life Hugh Hefner, who maybe should have stayed on the set of The Girls Next Door. Still, Faris channels the cheerful, girly determination of Reese Witherspoon's Elle Woods--no surprise since The House Bunny was cowritten by Kirsten Smith, who wrote Legally Blonde. Fans of silly romances, hop to it.--A.T. Hurley

The House Bunny [Theatrical Release] Reviews:
BUNNIES ARE MULTIPLYING!!!
2008-11-20 - When i first saw the trailer for this film it reminded me of Legally Blonde, Sydney White, She's the Man, and others. This movie for me was intersting, for there are real people in society like in the house of Zata. They feel like there in low parts of society, but just to get out of their shell and feel confident for themselves was an amazing thing to observe. Yeah they look sexy, but it took more than just looks. Women shouldn't only be a sexy object for men, they need to help out their fellow sisters and show that all girls in society are equal and beautiful. I hope that this DVD will bring what the guys will want. Us guys should be able to own and love this movie, just like women do. I feel everytime this movie plays I just sit back, enjoy the comedy, and just feel like your sexy. You know what they say about bunnies that multiply.

Awful
2008-11-10 - What's so sad is that it could have been funny. I sat through this film and cringed right up to the end. The humor was so predictable it was painful. Even worse, you could see where a really cliche comic opportunity was coming and you thought to yourself,"no, they won't go there, they won't pander like that", and before you could finish thinking the thought they went there. Two twelve year olds could have written this screenplay. I admit, there were parts that were funny .. but you can watch the preview to see those parts. If your IQ is above 90 .. this movie won't even entertain you. It has to be the worst movie I have seen in a very very long time.

You get What you expect
2008-10-15 - It's a funny, cute flick. In the order of Legally Blonde. If you like Legally Blonde you will like this movie. You get what you expect. Not so smart blonde bimbo wins over a group of misfits and ends up saving the day.

A funny bunny!
2008-10-05 - When I first heard about this film, I was less than impressed and had no intentions of seeing it. Once, however, I saw the preview at another film, I decided to give it a try and I'm glad I did.

"The House Bunny" is a charming and funny little film starring Anna Faris as Shelly, a playboy bunny who lives a carefree life in Hugh Hefner's mansion. After her 27th birthday, she finds herself suddenly evicted from her perfect life, unaware of how she can make a living. When she stumbles onto a college campus and discovers that sororities slightly resemble her former playful lifestyle, she becomes determined to be the house mother of a failing sorority full of misfits and unpopular girls. Through her determined spirit, willingness to encourage others and using her sexuality in a positive way, Shelley works her magic and helps her girls to become of the belles of sorority row. And in the process, the young women teach Shelly some valuable lessons as well.

Faris gives a good comedic performance, giving the character a sweet, likeable naivety. I liked that the character wasn't bitchy or a diva, simply a kind girl who lived an exotic life but must now adjust to her new situation and envirnoment. The supporting cast is funny but the brunt of the film falls on Faris, who delivers and proves she can carry a film. Notable supporting characters include Rumor Willis (the daugther of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore)former American Idol alum, Kathernine McPhee and Colin Hanks, son of Tom Hanks.

This is a fun date movie and I recommend it as a perfect summer comedy movie. Worth a trip to the theater!

Check Your Brains Before Pledging
2008-09-19 - "The House Bunny" is a giddy, girlish daydream that doesn't have two gray cells to rub together within its platinum blonde head. Pretty much as the ads promised. Of course, the fact that it's true to itself doesn't make it worth recommending. If that were all that mattered, I'd be giving out a lot more five-star ratings. There's nothing redeeming about an intentionally bubble-headed movie, especially when it's at pains to tell us (1) that it's a comedy, and (2) that the title character is dumb. We don't need wall-to-wall jokes about a young, sexy blonde not being able to pronounce "philanthropy" or thinking that the question, "Who are you voting for?" somehow relates to "American Idol." And we certainly don't need to see her fail at trying to be smart. It's all so obvious and overplayed that it actually sidesteps being funny and stumbles into a sinkhole of monotony. It's not that this movie is offensive or vulgar--it's just plain boring.

The plot: Shelley Darlingson (Anna Faris) has been living the good life as a Playboy Bunny ever since she was eighteen. Before then, she was an acne-scarred, braced-toothed orphan that no one wanted to adopt. Then she blossomed into a super sexy young woman, and before long, she moved into the Playboy Mansion with dreams of one day being a centerfold model. All that changes the day after her twenty-seventh birthday; apparently, Hugh Hefner sends her a letter, one that tells her to move out. According to the Mansion's resident cocktail mixer, being twenty-seven is fifty-nine in Bunny years. Out in the real world, Shelley happens to come across the sorority houses of a college campus, and lo and behold, the pathetic, unpopular, run-down Zeta house needs a new House Mother. It also needs at least thirty pledges in order to keep operating. Shelley, in all her wide-eyed ignorance, becomes the leader of the Zeta house. She then oversees a complete makeover of both the house and its sisters, turning them into the most popular sorority on campus. Along the way, Shelley learns the value of true friendship and that you don't have to be something you're not in matters of love.

How exactly does one become a Sorority Mother? Is the process really as easy as walking in off the street and announcing yourself as one? Never mind--this movie doesn't bother with such things, anyway. Nor does it care to explain how Shelley and her Zetas manage to pull of some of the most elaborately themed parties, or how they can afford expensive new dresses and hairstyles with no apparent source of money, or how they no one in administration knew she was even there. The best we're given is that she gets by with her feminine assets, and boy, does she have them. We know she has them because every piece of clothing she owns is more than a little revealing. It isn't long before she introduces the sisters to her dress style; the most gung ho is Natalie (Emma Stone), who's desperate to impress the love of her life, a frat boy named Colby (Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects). Yes, Shelley makes a significant impact on the girls' lives, and Zeta is certainly a lot more popular than it used to be. But at what cost? Have they somehow become even more superficial than their House Mother?

Why am I even asking these questions? The real focus of "The House Bunny" is how dumb Shelley is. I know, that's not the politically correct thing to say, but when you think a brothel is a place where you make soup, I'm afraid I have to call it like I see it. The jokes targeting her lack of knowledge are piled one on top of the other, and it only looks worse when she tries to act smart. Yes, I get that that's the point, but really, couldn't the filmmakers have told a couple of other jokes? Did they all have to be about her knowing everything about looking sexy and nothing about anything else? It gets so tiresome. So does her advice on maintaining relationships. At one point, she tells Natalie that guys don't want to date smart girls. But when Shelley begins dating a gentle young man named Oliver (Colin Hanks), she learns that--surprise--not all male college students are perverted sex hounds. The seemingly only decent guy on campus actually wants to get to know her as a person, which she initially can't understand. Neither can I. Who wants to know someone that uses a demonic Yoda voice to remember people's names?

The saddest thing about "The House Bunny" is that it's no better than it wanted to be. The filmmakers, I suspect, knew exactly what they were doing. That's fine, I guess, but don't expect me to accept it on those terms alone. If you want me to laugh, give me something other than a litany of blonde jokes. And for God's sake, don't cast Beverly D'Angelo as a vengeful Sorority Mother from a rival house; she's so much better than this. I have a feeling every one of the actors is better than this, even the beautiful Anna Faris, who's always so sluggish under the weight of her badly-written dialogue. What more can I say about the story, which is really nothing more than a clothesline to hang dumb-person jokes on? This is the kind of movie that makes you say to yourself, "Someone actually directed this." But it's worse than that; before a director came on board, someone actually wrote it. Screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith must be very confident people, because goodness knows doubtful writers would have lacked the nerve to shop this script around.