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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: 119

Fresh: 47

Rotten:72

Average Rating: 5.1/10

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

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for sex-related humor, partial nudity and brief strong language.

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Aug 22, 2008 Wide

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

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Release:

Dec 19, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Shelley is living a carefree life until a rival gets her tossed out of the Playboy Mansion. With nowhere to go, fate delivers her to the sorority girls from Zeta Alpha Zeta. Unless they can sign a new pledge class, the seven socially clueless women will lose their house to the scheming girls of Phi Iota Mu. In order to accomplish their goal, they need Shelley to teach them the ways of makeup and men; at the same time, Shelley needs some of what the Zetas have - a sense of individuality. The combination leads all the girls to learn how to stop pretending and start being themselves.
  • Source: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
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    Reviews for The House Bunny

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    ...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
    Reel Film Reviews

    Why the film works: Anna. Faris.

    Full Review Source: Mr. Brown's Movies | comment Comment
    01/06/09
    Michael Dequina
    Mr. Brown's Movies

    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
    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    Total Film

    Without Anna Faris - undoubtedly the best thing in Scary Movies - this would be just another superficial wheeze about the perils of superficiality.

    Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
    10/10/08
    Elliott Noble
    Sky Movies

    For all Faris's buoyancy, this is nowhere near as good as Legally Blonde, or all the other vaguely grrl-power teen movies it mimics.

    Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
    10/10/08
    Sukhdev Sandhu
    Daily Telegraph

    Less than awesome.

    Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
    10/10/08
    Peter Bradshaw
    Guardian [UK]

    But there is a lunatic sense of adventure about Fred Wolf’s saucy comedy, and it smothers all sorts of unforgiveable sins.

    Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
    10/10/08
    James Christopher
    Times [UK]

    This tale of a 'Playboy' bunny would be flopsy mopsy without Anna Faris.

    Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
    10/10/08
    Stella Papamichael
    Channel 4 Film

    This aims for ‘Legally Blonde’/‘Mean Girls’ status, but ends up being a throwaway, if entertaining, plea for casting directors to start taking Faris more seriously.

    Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
    10/10/08
    Anna Smith
    Time Out
     
     
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    Latest News for The House Bunny

    January 07, 2009: Slate's Movie Club Looks Back at 2008 Opens in new window
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