A thoroughly predictable empowerment-fantasy/fish-out-of-water comedy that owes its modest success entirely to its star.
The House Bunny (2008)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for The House Bunny
The House Bunny gets the difference between being openhearted and empty-headed.
Almost worth seeing just for Faris' spot-on work...Shelley becomes an endearing character in Faris' nonjudgmental hands.
The criminal waste of Faris' comedic gifts should have half of Hollywood locked up.
While The House Bunny is sure to appeal more to the female demographic, at least the guys who get dragged into watching this particular chick flick by their dates can feel solace in knowing that it could be a whole lot worse.
Puts a cheerful spin on its many cliches. This particular wheel hasn't been reinvented, but at least it gets a nice fresh coat of bubblegum-pink paint and a star to pilot it with aplomb.
100 percent of the laughs come courtesy of Faris, who's particularly good in the early going, when her babe-in-the-woods act reaches Homer Simpson-like heights of comic obliviousness. As usual, the movie eventually lets her down.
The House Bunny may be what some boys like, but there are doubtless moviegoers out there of both sexes who would like to see Faris hop into some decent onscreen material.
I laughed about a dozen times during The House Bunny, always because of Anna Faris. I cringed at The House Bunny about 50 times, always because of everything else.
Let's hope Anna Faris' next project looks past her outer beauty and unleashes her inner weirdo.
The plot is beyond predictable. Seriously, write down every scene from Legally Blonde and Revenge of the Nerds on index cards, shuffle and then deal your movie.
[A] hodgepodge of unfunny, sophomoric humor and PG-13 T&A, frosted by a sheen of appallingly nauseous 'drama.'
This film from the Adam Sandler fun factory starts with a series of obnoxious, dated stereotypes, and never quite flips them into something positive.
This is pretty much a one-woman show for Faris, and she doesn't get much help from director Fred Wolf.
Faris gives her all to the role, finally getting her chance to carry a movie instead of forever being typecast as the supporting girl. But the script just isn't there.
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