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Movies / On DVD / The House Bunny
The House Bunny

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The House Bunny (2008)

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Reviews Counted:120

Fresh:47

Rotten:73

Average Rating:5.1/10

Consensus: Anna Faris is game, but she can't salvage this middling, formulaic comedy.

Australian Rating: M [See Full Rating] Infrequent coarse language and sexual references

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Genre: Comedies

Australian Theatrical Release:
Sep 25, 2008 Wide

US Box Office: $48,237,389

Synopsis: Comic actress Anna Faris (LOST IN TRANSLATION, SCARY MOVIE) shines in her starring turn in THE HOUSE BUNNY, a hilarious and heartfelt tale of female empowerment. As the film opens, Shelly... Comic actress Anna Faris (LOST IN TRANSLATION, SCARY MOVIE) shines in her starring turn in THE HOUSE BUNNY, a hilarious and heartfelt tale of female empowerment. As the film opens, Shelly Darlingson (Farris) is Big Bunny on Campus at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion. With her 27th birthday approaching, Shelly eagerly anticipates fulfilling her dream: to be centerfold of the month. But when she learns that she's being booted from Bunnyland, Shelly finds herself with no family or place to call home. Desperate for both, she lucks across the socially inept sisters of the Zeta Alpha Zeta sorority. With no hope of attracting new pledges and the consequent threat of losing their sorority, the girls of Zeta take in the bubbly Shelly as their new "house mother." Shelly immediately sets to work helping the Zetas bring out their inner glamazons, luring in boys while drawing the ire of rival sorority Phi Iota Mu. Shelly also catches the eye of Oliver (Colin Hanks), who forces her to realize that it will take more her Playboy Mansion ways to win over a good man. Plus, Shelly discovers that her social insights have transformed the Zetas into the very superficial types they once railed against. And when Hugh Hefner calls to offer Shelly her dream centerfold shoot, she must choose between returning to the family that loved her best and saving the family that needs her most. Faris (who co-produced the film) is a comic delight as Shelly, with a perfect blend of sexy charm and sweet-natured cluelessness. Supported by an excellent cast of fresh faces and seasoned veterans, THE HOUSE BUNNY is an irresistible tale of inner beauty and "sisters" sticking together. [More]

Starring: Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, Emma Stone, Katharine McPhee

Starring: Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, Emma Stone, Katharine McPhee, Rumer Willis, Beverly D'Angelo

Director: Fred Wolf

Director: Fred Wolf
Screenwriter: Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith
Producer: Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, Allen Covert, Heather Parry
Composer: Waddy Wachtel
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for The House Bunny

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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The film's only noteworthy features prove to be the scenes inside the Playboy mansion, where a wrinkled Hugh Hefner shows up, doing his weary best to put in a credible performance as himself.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
09/26/08
Sandra Hall
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's computer-written stuff, stiffly directed by first-timer Fred Wolf, but it's light and fun and sports a decent quota of passable gags.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
09/26/08
Jim Schembri
Jim Schembri
The Age (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This puerile so-called comedy is a complete waste of the talents of Anna Faris, a cheeky beauty who is obviously channelling Marilyn Monroe – God forbid a remake of Some Like it Hot is in the works.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
09/26/08
David Stratton
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If you left Legally Blonde and Revenge of the Nerds DVDs in a darkened room for long enough, something like House Bunny would eventually totter out.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia) | comment Comment
09/26/08
Leigh Paatsch
Leigh Paatsch
Daily Telegraph (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Fairly predictable

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
09/26/08
Alexandra Coghlan
Alexandra Coghlan
FILMINK (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Strictly for blondes who like pink, this ultra girlie chick flick meets the criteria for its target audience with likeable characters searching for acceptance as they are. If you take the film on its own level, it is a lot of fun, and teenage girls

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
09/18/08
Louise Keller
Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...it's hard to deny the effectiveness of Anna Faris' energetically go-for-broke performance...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
02/10/09
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Why the film works: Anna. Faris.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
01/06/09
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

The result isn't very funny, and its sexual politics are as muddled as you'd expect, but Faris is sweet and likable as the sort of wise dumbbell Judy Holliday used to play.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
12/17/08
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

Not funny, not sexy, not even obnoxious enough to get anyone worked up, The House Bunny truly establishes a new low water mark for 2008 cinema.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment 1 Comment
12/14/08
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

The flatness of humor comes from the directing and timing, rather than necessarily the dialogue or actor skill. More than once I thought to myself, "That joke totally could have worked."

Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment Comment
11/09/08
Karina Montgomery
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina

There's a sublimely goofy tone to this profoundly inept film that keeps us smiling from start to finish

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/10/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

With strong comic performances and some good laughs, The House Bunny is fluffy, forgettable fun, but it's no Legally Blonde.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/10/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

This silly comedy has a few decent jokes in its otherwise dim screenplay. However, its parody is as toothless as Hefner probably is by now.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
10/10/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

One could be forgiven for thinking that the American college system is merely one big popularity contest. Certainly, no one does anything outrageous like read a book.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
10/10/08
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

It is all so cheesy, The Sneak almost felt like not wanting to be a film critic anymore.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
10/10/08
Sun Online

Every banality is trotted out right on cue, from the makeover montage to the awkward first date, to the usual hoary old moral about being true to yourself, making this one bunny due for the casserole pot.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
10/10/08
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

Depressingly for a film written by two women, it's relentlessly sexist in its insistence that, in order to attract men, women must appear brainless and dress like a hooker.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
10/10/08
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

It is not a classic and it’s not going to win any awards but it is great, simple, stupid fun - it does exactly what it says on the tin.

Full Review Source: Heart 106.2 | comment Comment
10/10/08
Heart 106.2

Fish-out-of-water formulaics are lifted by a starlet on the up. The story is pure bubblegum, but surrender to the silliness and you’ll be endeared. A must for anyone who’s been hanging on for Legally Blonde 3.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
10/10/08
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Total Film
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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