"The House Bunny" Review - Written by Kelsey Zukowski

Starring: Anna Farris, Emma Stone, Colin Hanks, Kat Dennings, Rumor Willis, Katherine McPhee, Kiely Williams, Sarah Wright, Dana Goodman
Directed By: Fred Wolf
Written By: Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith
Released: 2008
Grade: B+

The House Bunny is a hysterical comedy that got me to laugh more than any other movie of 2008 has so far. It is funny how it mixes fairy tales, orphans trying to find their homes, and an ex-play boy bunny trying to add some charm to a few nerdy outsiders. This sounds like a pretty out there and crazy equation, but this is exactly what makes the film a success. It is so out there and wacky in ways that you wouldn’t think of or expect.

Shelly (Farris) never knew her parents and spent her entire childhood living in an orphanage. She grew up watching other kids get adopted and hoping that she would be next so she could have a place to call home. Unfortunately, she never did get adopted. However, when she was older she did find a home: the Playboy mansion. Shelly loves living there, being around her fellow playmates and being treated like such a beauty. It has created a wonderful lifestyle for her that she has gotten used to. This comes to an end very soon when Shelly wakes up the morning after her 27th birthday. She gets a note from Hugh Hefner telling her that she needs to move out of the mansion. It is suggested that this is because of her age, since years add up much quicker as a bunny. Since Shelly doesn’t have much choice she packs her stuff up and leaves. The first night she ends up living out of her car. Luckily, she finds a sorority house, which reminds her of the mansion quite a bit. Since she isn’t a student she can’t join and even if she wanted to there is no guarantee that she would be asked. Being a house mother would give her the opportunity to live there while still bonding with the girls. The other house mothers seem to be even more opposed to having anything to do with her.

After being rejected by the first one, Shelly continues her search of sororities to stay at, determined since she really believes this is the best step for her right now. The leader of the Zeta sorority, Natalie (Stone) is hesitant about this although she is much nicer. She just doesn’t have any hope of even keeping the house since everyone seems to think her and her sisters are losers and outcasts. They haven’t had any incoming pledges in over 3 years and there are only 7 girls total. When Natalie sees how well she is with attracting guys to the house, she changes her mind and makes Shelly their house mom. Shelley is thrilled by this and is immediately trying to help, doing everything she can to transform the girls so they can keep their house. She tries to earn them money, but then meets Oliver (Hanks) and realizes that the best things for them to do is to volunteer and give to his nursing home. Aside from this Shelly’s main concern is attracting guys and throwing great parties, sure that this will in turn attract girls who will want to join next year. Some of the girls are very reluctant about changing their appearance, but look at it as a study to see if this would really work. They get make-over’s and get completely new wardrobes. With Shelly’s help things do seem to be going in the right direction. Guys are showing a definite interest, they have some huge parties, and everyone seems to like what they are seeing from Zeta. Well not everyone, there are still a few who are conspiring against the Zeta’s determined to see them fail. The house mothers and the girls of the sorority that rejected Shelly, particularly Ashley (Wright) who is playing dirty tricks on the opposing sorority every chance she gets in hopes of sabotaging them. The question is whether or not all of the changes will matter in the end and whether they are compromising too much.

The romantic sub-plot between Shelly and Oliver was interesting. Most of their attempts ended in the two clashing, but there was still a definite attraction between the two of them. Also, Oliver was the exception to everything Shelly thought she knew about guys. She tried just playing the game to get the guy, but with this one, there was no need for games. He was intelligent, kind, and unlike most guys who most likely just wanted Shelly for a one time deal, Oliver actually looked at her as a person and even though it was early on in their relationship, he still wanted a relationship rather than a one night stand. Shelly obviously cared about him enough to try to give him what she thought he wanted. So this gave the girls that she had been teaching about boys a chance to school her about smarts. This offered a nice give and take between the characters not to that it offered some hilarious moments.

The very gifted cast made this movie simply sparkle. Anna Farris was absolutely perfect as Shelly. She had immense energy and was so bubbly and kind. She is given some great dialogue to work with, but she is really the one that brings this to life. Farris’ comedy is completely spot on in every second of the movie. It satisfied my sense of humor perfectly and had me laughing uncontrollably as it will likely do for anyone else who can appreciate silly fun comedy. Everything from her priceless reactions to her voice and all of the craziness that she completely compliments makes her a joy to watch and gives the movie the spark it needed. For those who haven’t been convinced by the first few Scary Movies, her riot of a performance in Smiley Face, or even how her supporting role in Mama’s Boy that was the true highlight of the film, be ready to be proven of Anna Farris’ immense acting talents and the absolute hilarity she brings by real dedication to acting.

Farris alone could have made this movie, but the leading lady opposite of her enhances the comedy that derives from completely different characteristics given to us by the talented Emma Stone. Having two teen comedies coming out this week where she adds her charm and supports both wonderfully, this is a big week for her. Although Stone has concentrated on the teen comedy, she picks fun and enjoyable ones, and even more importantly, she picks roles that differ from each other giving her the chance to experiment and challenge herself as an actress. In Superbad she was the popular and desirable Jules. In The Rocker she is less popular, a bit more shy and artsy, and finds herself crushing in her midst of fame. In House Bunny she plays the outsider nerd and she does this far better than I would have thought even though I am a fan of her work. She brings out the timid outsider, who respects herself but still strives for things that seem outside of her reach. What makes her most believable as a geek is just her sudden moments of great excitement especially in reference to obscure things that most people would never think of.

Colin Hanks does very well alongside of Anna Farris. They do seem a little off together, but that is how it was supposed to be and it really brings out some awkward but in turn very rich moments. This was a good move for Hanks and it seems to be something a little different for him at least in comparison to past characters he has played. Kat Dennings goes right along with Emma Stone in my book and it is great that they had the chance to be in this movie together. Unlike some of her other roles, she is an extreme tom boy and very edgy with piercing all over her body. She gives us a very non-conformist attitude and clearly holds research and an inquiry of the human condition highly. Dennings shows the charisma here as well as a range of her talents. Rumer Willis surprised me in this. Her role as the girl stuck in the body brace and therefore a target for jokes and ridicule worked out very well for Willis. She was able to bring an off key and gawky, but very enthusiastic way to her.

The former American Idol contestant, Katherine McPhee makes a great transition in her first major role in film as the pregnant Zeta sister. She is equally kooky as anyone else in the film and brings this out flawlessly. Kiely Williams, another former singer who was a member of the pop groups, 3LW and Disney Channel’s The Cheetah Girls, moves on from The Cheetah Girls films, one of the only other roles she has ever played, and gives us a very to herself girl who doesn’t even talk for the majority of the movie. Her character, Lilly, is easily scared by others, but is given the chance to branch out, mostly from some of the sheer stupidity she is seeing from her sisters. Dana Goodman played just about the manliest girl you can imagine. Goodman completely brought this out in every way from her posture and stance to her intensely deep and groggy voice to the ridiculously grotesque way she would hit on guys. Although, she was nervous and unsure, what made this even better is the confidence she had while doing this. Lastly, we have Sarah Wright playing the arrogant and spoiled leader of the enemy sorority. I was happy to see her in this since I enjoyed her on Quintuplets a lot. Out of all of the actors I have mentioned she is given the least to work with and has a somewhat stereotypical bitchy character to deal with. She does well with what she has, although I would like to see her have roles in the future that compliment her talents more.

Since the movie’s plot is based on trying to get guys to like you, it can seem that it is a little superficial. The House Bunny doesn’t leave this out as it questions this itself. In the end it acknowledges that this is a part of being in our society, wanting to be accepted and to have others think you look good. This is even the case with Shelly. She talks about being made fun of for not being very attractive when she was younger. Being a Playboy model was really just about getting this acceptance from other people so she could feel better about herself. The girls realize that they don’t have to be one way or another. They can be unique and be themselves while still having confidence in themselves, which can be more attractive than anything else. Also, the fact that Shelly and the girls finally find home and true friends in each other for the first time just shows how much different people can do for one another no matter how little it might seem you have in common. The film also gives us the theme of moving on in your life. Shelly who has found so much happiness in looks realizes that there are more important things and people that can give her what she is really looking for. Particularly at the end, it does take a predictable road. With some of the wackiness and randomness of a lot of things that happen early on, this evens things out a little and luckily doesn‘t hurt the quality. Overall, the film has wonderful direction by Fred Wolf. The cast did absolute wonders for the film as did the hilarious dialogue and even the situations of The House Bunny are very funny giving us a great time full of continuous laughs.