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The House Bunny (2008) More at IMDbPro »

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63 out of 88 people found the following comment useful :-
Anna Faris makes this movie watchable, likable, and enjoyable for anyone, even guys., 22 August 2008

Author: Get_Off_Spys_Lawn from United States

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.

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57 out of 83 people found the following comment useful :-
This Bunny is funny and will please fans of light, silly comedy and romance, 21 August 2008

Author: Amy Adler from Toledo, Ohio

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.

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35 out of 48 people found the following comment useful :-
Introducing a Major Comic Talent, 12 September 2008

Author: hollyfairbanks-usa from Los Angeles, CA

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

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31 out of 44 people found the following comment useful :-
Faris is good but the movie doesn't make her a centerfold, 23 August 2008

Author: C-Younkin from United States

"The House Bunny" has a funny concept and what looks like a "Legally Blonde" form of execution. If Anna Faris, most commonly known as the one portraying/making fun of the Neve Campbell "Scream" role in the "Scary Movies" was ever going to become the next big female comedienne the time would be now. She showed she was willing to make fun of herself in those movies but I still wonder if she can play a sincere, actual human being rather than a character meant to be the punch line most of the time. "Bunny" was written by "Blonde" screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith so that could be good news but a lot of the weight of this movie is going to rest on the shoulders of it star. Reese Witherspoon made that movie what it was and the big question here is, can Faris do the same?

She plays Shelley, a ditzy playboy bunny with big dreams of becoming the next centerfold who instead is tossed out on her ass by Hugh after her 27th birthday. Shelley went from the orphanage to the mansion so she never quite got the fill gist of the outside world. Now homeless and with very few survival skills, she has no idea what to do next. Just through happenstance, she encounters something that looks like a mini Playboy mansion but is in fact the best college sorority on campus. They decline her for house mother but she finds a home with the Zeta sorority, a group of misfit girls, led by Natalie (Emma Stone), who seriously need to improve their image and attract new members in order to stop the college from closing their house. Enter Shelley to give the girls make-overs.

This movie made me laugh out loud twice. One involved the manhole cover joke in the trailer, and the other was a really good jab at Bob Saget. The rest of the movie is likable and has a nice message but really can't seem to wring that many laughs out of a good premise. It's a parody against the bimbo ideology, first having Shelley turn the girls into mindless, skimpy-looking prostitutes only to realize later that you also have to have substance too. Sometimes it gets a few chuckles and other times it comes off looking embarrassingly sitcom-ish, like when Shelley tries to look brainy to impress a guy by wearing very thick glasses that make her dizzy, but overall the script isn't as smart or funny as "Legally Blonde" and that hurts its chances. The movie also treats some of the secondary characters in really bad taste, like a girl whose such a misfit she actually talks like Frankenstein and walks like Igor, and I was confused by some others, like a girl who supposedly is bad with boys and yet is pregnant.

I was also confused by the mental abilities of the main character. At times she seems dumber than dirt and at other times she seems almost profound. That she works regardless of this has less to do with the script and more to do with Anna Faris. I don't think this will be the star-making role I thought it would be for her but she gives Shelley a very sweet, genial nature and she is willing to throw herself into silly situations with an innocent and goofy charm. Emma Stone is also pretty funny in this movie, dialing up the dorky meter to about an 8. I feel bad for Colin Hanks though. This kid just doesn't seem to be getting many chances to shine, and here he's wasted as the romantic lead in a movie that's pretty low on the romance.

"The House Bunny" begins, middles, and ends like most college movies do, just unfortunately its not funny or clever enough to distract from the generic plotting. Most of the secondary characters are also wasted as well but maybe, it will put Anna Faris on some people's radars. She is a very funny comic actress and with the right script, its possible she could be the next big thing.

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22 out of 34 people found the following comment useful :-
Just good summer fun, 23 August 2008

Author: nancy45 from Texas

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.

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24 out of 41 people found the following comment useful :-
Agreeable Time Filer for Late August, 22 August 2008

Author: hamletmiss from United States

I went with my mother and my nine-year-old niece to see "The House Bunny" in the early morning in a relatively empty theater where there were only women. Of course it won't be the most memorable movie I've seen, but for late August, it's not all that bad.

Comedienne Anna Faris is perfectly cast as a carefree, big-haired and hare-brained Playboy bunny who after celebrating her 27th birthday (that's 59 in bunny years) at the Playboy Mansion, where she has lived much of her life, gets kicked out of there by yours truly, Hugh Hefner. With nowhere to turn, she looks at a sorority house that seems to resemble her previous house, only not as big. There, she accepts the job of a house mother to seven social misfits who make up the sorority Zeta Alpha Zeta. They need 23 more pledges before they are totally ousted as a campus sorority by the beautiful but snooty Pi Alphu Mu sorority.

Do the clichés sound familiar? Yes, they do. It seems like the creators of this movie grew up on "Revenge of the Nerds," one of my all-time favorite movies and the granddaddy of all jocks vs. nerds and losers who become winner comedies. So they decided to make a "Nerds" comedy a generation later with a feminist perspective. Faris's character, appropriately named Shelly Darlingson, first takes on all the wallflowers and makes them like her with flashy clothes, heavy makeup, costume jewelry, and platform shoes. At first, it is successful and boys fall for them. Soon enough, they see Shelly as frivolous and teach her to have brains as well as beauty. This leads Shelly to a forced, clumsy conversation with the man of her dreams (Colin Hanks, son of Tom Hanks). At the end of the movie, everyone wins except for the Pi Alpha Mu sorority.

There is a fine cast. Anna Faris perks everything up in what could have been a total lamebrainer. Her appearance and high voice get laughs, but when she does a dead-on "Exorcist" voice by saying everyone's names in order to remember them, that is the real deal. Colin Hanks and fellow Hollywood Offspring Rumer Willis, daughter of Demi Moore (and looks a lot like her) and Bruce Willis, provide able support. Katharine McPhee, the American Idol Runner Up of 2006, is made first ugly, then beautiful, as one of the sorority members. Listen for an "Idol" reference in which Faris tells Hanks she listens to Paula and Randy and that Simon is mean. The rest of the cast is amiable as well. We tend to know more about Shelly and the misfit sorority than the snobby girls or the hunky boys. Small parts by Beverly D'Angelo as a snide veteran house mother and Christoper McDonald as the prissy dean are provided nicely as well.

Now I would not put this on a must see list, but it is okay for a lazy day. As they dump out leftover movies for the summer, I would rather see this than a truly terrible one I was made to see with a friend - "Stepbrothers," where Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly did nothing but scream their heads off and I was so exhausted the night before that I fell asleep and could barely stay awake. For "The House Bunny," I was awake the whole time through.

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13 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Cinematic schizophrenia., 8 November 2008

Author: SusurrusKarma from United Kingdom

Ladies and gentlemen, imagine if you will the concept of cinematic schizophrenia. It's okay if you don't quite grasp the idea behind this concept because I just then made it up especially for this review. However, should a movie ever adopt the illness that is cinematic schizophrenia, it will undoubtedly in some way or another resemble the bewildering mess that is House Bunny. Here is a film that is one thing, then another, and then another and so on. It's a feature that gives the audiences some genuine laughs, and yet tacks on drama so soppy and melodramatic that it's hard to take anything in the vicinity of its presence with any degree of sincerity. There's also some brilliant performances, and yet the thespians involved are neglected to play out shady, two dimensional cut outs for characters; going through act one, two and three with a different wardrobe, and a whole new personality to match. What hurts the movie most however isn't this mix of successful elements with mundane ones, but the collision that occurs when they try to blend; House Bunny is a confusing, disjointed affair that entertains sporadically and yet has around the same amount of potential to irritate and bore. In the end, much like a "bunny" in reality, this isn't going to give the brain cells much company and whatever fun is had will be quickly forgotten in no time; shallow, trite and ridiculously unfocused, House Bunny should be fine enough for teenage girls looking for some brain dead amusement, but for anyone else, this is material best left alone.

Following the story of ugly neglected orphan turned Playboy centrefold wannabe turned homeless bimbo, House Bunny opts to tell the classic tale of 'be yourself and always appreciate those closest to you'. The problem with this isn't just that the movie fails to change any of the formula associated with this cliché concoction but that it instead contorts elements beyond recognition which in turn distorts any sense of conviction within the script. Furthermore, with three distinct acts that draw their borders just about as obviously as their characters go through personality changes, the film adopts a jolted structure that plays out all too obviously and predictably. Throughout the tale we see characters go from one thing to another and then meeting somewhere in the middle by the end; it's nothing that hasn't been done before, so many times. Yet where House Bunny gets most irksome is in the extent that characters shift focus, resulting in tired clichés that fail to create any resonance with the audience beyond grabbing a few stilted laughs. As a direct result, it is the feature's first act that plays off the most successfully, meshing likable characters with not so likable ones in a manner that seems almost satirical in its charm. Unfortunately, this sense of consistency and intrigue soon dispels once the movie sets up its driving force for the central theme, resulting in ideas rather than characters interacting with each other; this isn't engaging drama by any means, no matter how hard it tries. Sure enough there's somewhat of a decent message to be taken back, but it's too far behind all this confused jumble of caricature nonsense to be taken seriously.

To say that the feature is without its merits however would be a small misjudgement. House Bunny certainly isn't anything worth looking into, but should you be subjected to watching it, there are a few hidden gems in amongst all the dirt. Most of these highlights, as stated earlier, lie in the performances of the main cast, and while most are given nothing but lame characterisation to work with, most get the job done and pull some decent laughs out of their limited bag of tricks. Anna Faris who by now is more than comfortable in these kinds of slapstick roles, is particularly convincing in her position here, making the most of her ditzy persona and fleshing her out to be just a little more engaging than she should otherwise be. Emma Stone in what is only her third feature also gives a memorable performance in her own right, outdoing her lukewarm outing in lacklustre The Rocker by quite some distance. It goes without saying that her character suffers the most from this schizophrenia I referred to earlier, and Stone certainly entertains more as Act One Nerd, but consistency aside, she adds an air of vibrant ambiance that counters Faris' more eccentric glow.

Aside from those elements however, plus the undeniable fact that most will find something to laugh at here, then House Bunny falls flat. It's a tepid effort for sure, eager to please its target audience of teenage girls with little aspiration to reach anyone else, and for that the feature can get more than tiresome in between the more amusing and engaging parts. Certainly not a movie to be taken seriously by any means, director Fred Wolf never quite seems to grasp the script's notably tongue-in-cheek nature, and instead delivers a black and white rendition of the now sloppily vague "believe in yourself and you will be happy" story. The drama is pointless, the characters ridiculously incoherent, and the themes are underdeveloped to the point where all hope is lost underneath rubble of mismatched ideas and talents. I'm sure some audiences will get a kick out of it, but I wasn't one of them. I laughed a few times, and I very rarely got bored, but that's not saying much. This is for teenage girls in search for silly, ditzy fun with no brains and no heart either; anyone else should look elsewhere.

- A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

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9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
An uneven comedy, but watchable, 26 October 2008

Author: kevin_crighton (kevincrighton@btinternet.com) from Scotland

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.

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11 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
The House Bunny Fails, 3 September 2008

Author: TheBeverlyHillsTimes

Having also seen the ultra-violent Death Race in the same week as The House Bunny I realized one big thing; clichéd violence doesn't offer any kind of real reaction whereas clichéd humor can still manage to make you laugh as long as the delivery is entertaining and fresh. Sure, the dumb blond jokes in The House Bunny are old and played out, but Anna Faris gives you continuing reason to laugh in a film that is far funnier than it really deserves to be. The House Bunny plays on the sexy-but-dumb stereotype to the fullest extent and Faris has proved in the past, as a regular in the otherwise awful Scary Movie films, she can pull this off. On top of looking amazing, Faris gives this film every reason to exist. Co-stars Emma Stone, Kat Dennings and the increasingly emaciated Rumer Willis offer up a couple of additional laughs, but it is Faris that leads the charge. She plays right up to the edge of the dumb blond stereotype and only occasionally tosses in one too many clichéd jokes. Nevertheless, you forgive her thanks to a consistent number of chuckles throughout the film.

This isn't to say this is a classic comedy by any means, but anyone that goes to see House Bunny should walk away with a smile. This isn't a film to hate, it offers up exactly what the trailers promise and it delivers a little extra with an unexpected f-bomb dropped in the mix and a peek at Faris's little bum to keep the men paying attention.

Perhaps the one major shock would be Colin Hanks; it seems those Tom Hanks genes aren't quite paying off just yet. After a decent sized role in Peter Jackson's King Kong, Hanks has only managed to worm his way into mediocre films at best. Then again, he hasn't shown anyone any reason to give him anything with more meat on it so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Katherine McPhee of "American Idol" fame plays a small role in the feature as does Beverly D'Angelo, but both are relatively inconsequential.

The ladies in the audience are more likely to get a kick out of The House Bunny and the fellas dragged to the theater with them should be able to enjoy themselves as well despite the estrogen oozing of the screen. It isn't like this is a film you should rush out to the theater to see, but you could definitely do worse in your selection.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Does anyone else feel like this is the female version of Revenge of the Nerds?, 4 January 2009

Author: moviedude1 from Minneapolis, MN, USA

Anna Faris is a Playboy model who's kicked to the curb for her birthday and finds herself with no job and no place to live, but she manages to find a place to live, thinking that she can be a house mother for a sorority house. But, soon she's learning from her girls about self confidence, just as they are learning from her.

I was in the mood for a stupid movie one day, so I decided to go and see this film at the theater across the street from my house. Fortunately, a family emergency arose and I could not get the time to spend money on this film. Thank God for Netflix, so I don't really have to spend any money on this. ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!?!?! I can't believe that someone like Faris could even FIND a college campus, much less manage a way to live there. Although she proves good in getting the girls to come out of the Dark Ages and the part where she stands over the man hole cover made me laugh, the film is as stupid as all those dumb jokes about blonds. This film had some funny parts to it, but I wouldn't deem this as a funny film.

2 out of 10 stars!

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