The House Bunny

Review by Anthony Morris

When Playboy bunny Shelley (Scary Movie's Anna Faris) gets kicked out of the Playboy mansion for being too old (she has just turned 27), she somehow ends up the house mother for a sorority that is about to be shut down... unless they can get thirty girls to join up. 

Shelley's solution?

It's simple - a bikini carwash, makeovers to make the sorority's collection of freaks and nerds look like The Pussycat Dolls, and loads of cool parties. 

The makers of Legally Blonde haven't strayed too far from that movie's playbook here, but where that film has some real charm about it this goes more for broad comedy and doesn't quite pull it off.

The real question here is, how can you make a movie that tells its audience to "be yourself" when the entire point of the film is that looking like a dolled-up airhead is the path to friends and success? 

It's not an easy trick to pull off but The House Bunny almost manages to do it – by which I mean, it has a scene or two where we're told that it's important to stay true to yourself... only the people saying it are one-time nerds who have been given a make-over to look like hookers. 

The House Bunny would need to be a whole lot funnier to pull off saying a line like "Boys don't like girls who are too smart" with a straight face.

Despite a quality performance from Anna Faris, there just aren't enough laughs here to take your mind off the amazing contortions the script goes through to deliver a pointless "be yourself" message. 

If it had been less on-message it probably would have been far more enjoyable in a disposable comedy sense, as it's unlikely anyone watching would have really minded.

2 out of 5

The House Bunny
Australian release: 25th September, 2008
Official Site: The House Bunny
Cast: Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, Emma Stone, Kat Dennings
Director: Fred Wolf