Review for The House Bunny

Director: Fred Wolf

Released: 2008
Genre: Greek Life Comedy

Fred Wolf directed The House Bunny in 2008. The film came and went fairly quickly during the summer of that year (Tropic Thunder came out around the same time), and now it is shown on Netflix for no additional user fee. It was through Netflix that I stumbled upon it... something about the bunny ears triggered my memory, and I was once again aware that the movie existed. I of course had no choice but to watch it from beginning to end.

The House Bunny stars actress Anna Faris, who plays Shelly Darlingson, an orphaned girl who grew out of her adolescent geekiness to become a Playmate in Hugh Hefner's palace of unabashed hedonism. Everything is splendid until she reaches the age of 27 (which, according to her house servant, is 59 in Bunny years) and is supposedly told to leave by Hefner himself. She does, and wanders the streets in search of a job. Eventually Shelly winds up being the housemother for a struggling sorority, and brings about a glorious transformation in said sorority's image. Later on, she receives a call from Hugh, who begs her to return, and soon discovers that another prospective Miss November conspired to steal her chance at being in the coveted photo spread by evicting her from the Playboy Mansion. Fortunately, Shelly is ultimately allowed to be the model in the shoot. Of course, she leaves the set after realizing that her true friends are the sorority rejects she took under her wing, and everything ends on a happy note.

I had only watched three "Greek life comedies" in their entirety before deciding to see The House Bunny. The other three films were, in descending order of quality, as follows: National Lampoon's Animal House, National Lampoon's Van Wilder, and... Sorority Boys. After watching The House Bunny, I still feel John Belushi's sterling reputation within the genre will not be tarnished anytime soon. As a modest (in terms of aspirations, not wardrobe choice), sorority flick, The House Bunny is choc full of attractive girls in skimpy outfits, who were thrown in for good measure and bigger box office returns. Even so, I still found myself enjoying it.

In fact, I began liking The House Bunny from the get go, and not because of the large number of callipygian co-eds present on screen. I know what you're thinking: what other reason could there be for me liking it? Here is what I appreciated most: Faris feverishly combats the movie's mediocre scripting and bad casting with an impressive amount of acting talent. Although in the end she does not emerge victorious, the attempt was not in vein- her performance is the main reason I am holding this film in a positive light.

Also, I was amused by the references to other films Wolf (or perhaps the screenwriters) made in this movie. One line of dialogue in particular struck me as both clever and obscure- the referenced movie in question is one I have already reviewed, and the allusion itself does not even appear on the Internet Movie Database list of "movie connections" for The House Bunny. In fact, I wonder if Wolf has even seen the feature I speak of. I challenge the readers of this blog to a game of cinema trivia: if you think you know the referenced film I am talking about, and the line alluding to it said within The House Bunny, type it into the comment section of this review. The best way to find the answer is to watch the thirteen films I have already critiqued, and then watch this one... but I doubt anyone would actually do that. And no, there is no prize for the winner, save for bragging rights.

2.50/4.00