The House Bunny (2008)

When Shelly, a Playboy bunny, is tossed out of the mansion, she has nowhere to go until she falls in with the sorority girls from Zeta Alpha Zeta. The members of the sorority - who also have got to be the seven most socially clueless women on the planet - are about to lose their house. They need a dose of what only the eternally bubbly Shelley can provide... but they will each learn on their own ... See full summary »

Director:

Fred Wolf

Writers:

Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith

Stars:

Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, Emma Stone

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Faris	...	Shelley Darlingson
Colin Hanks	...	Oliver
Emma Stone	...	Natalie
Kat Dennings	...	Mona
Hugh M. Hefner	...	Himself (as Hugh Hefner)
Christopher McDonald	...	Dean Simmons
Beverly D'Angelo	...	Mrs. Hagstrom
Katharine McPhee	...	Harmony
Rumer Willis	...	Joanne
Kiely Williams	...	Lilly
Dana Goodman	...	Carrie Mae
Kimberly Makkouk	...	Tanya
Monet Mazur	...	Cassandra
Tyson Ritter	...	Colby
Sarah Wright	...	Ashley

Storyline

Finding family. Shelley Darlingson was raised in an orphanage, finally happy when she blossoms into a fox and moves into the Playboy Mansion. Unfortunately, she's summarily expelled on her 27th birthday(she's now too old). In desperation she takes a job as house mother for a sorority of misfits losing their house for lack of members. They have but a few months to find 30 pledges, or a sorority of mean girls will take over their place. Shelley figures that girls will pledge a house that boys find interesting, so she sets out to make the Zetas alluring, not act too smart, and host great parties. Can she succeed, and what about her own makeover? Sabotage is everywhere, plus it's hard to be one's self.

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Plot Keywords:

sorority | playboy | party | playboy mansion | makeover | 

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Taglines:

Bodaciously Going Where No Bunny Has Gone Before... University.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sex-related humor, partial nudity and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace.com Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 August 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

I Know What Boys Like

Filming Locations:

Playboy Mansion - 10236 Charing Cross Road, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£894,188 (UK) (10 October 2008)

Gross:

£2,931,090 (UK) (31 October 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Happy Madison Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Lily is going to mail out the invitation envelopes to future Zeta members, the boy that distracts her says his name is Cole Trickle - which is the name of the character played by Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder.

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Goofs

When Joanne (Rumer Willis) starts running towards Steve (Tyler Spindel) with her brace on, it breaks off and you can see it behind her. When she finally catches up to Steve the brace it is no longer behind her. Then when it zooms up to Shelly, you cannot see the brace in the direction she's looking.

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Quotes

Natalie: We could tie our shoes together, our tennis shoes, and we could throw them over telephone wires. Because I see that everywhere and it seems like people would have fun doing that. Like, how hard can you throw? You know what I mean? Like how - what are you -
[stops herself]
Natalie: [awkward pause]
Shelley: Or we could go to a club.

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Connections

References Days of Thunder (1990)

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Soundtracks

"Happy Birthday"
Written by Clare Grogan (as Claire Patricia Grogan), Anthony McDaid, John McElhone,
Michael Anderson, Gerard McElhone and Bryan Keegan
Performed by Altered Images
Courtesy of Epic Records and Sony BMG Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

Cute and fun, but unfortunately doesn't stand out

Ever since I saw the trailer for The House Bunny back in May, I was looking forward to seeing it, this looked like a fun comedy and we all love Anna Faris, this girl is just adorable, and she makes comedies a lot of fun. So I saw The House Bunny yesterday and I did enjoy myself, but we've done this before, the dumb blonde story, not that we can't do it again, I'm just looking for something a little fresh. But Anna Faris holds herself so well with comedies, The House Bunny, she doesn't seem to enjoy herself as much in this role. A lot of the moments where she acts stupid, she looks a little uncomfortable at times, I think that's why this movie didn't stand out as well as other dumb blonde comedies. But it's mindless entertainment, the message, it worries me a little, I'll explain why in a little bit, but I'd say if you're a grown up and you know better, than this is a fun little movie.

Shelley is a hot playboy bunny whose life is just grand, she's a sweetheart, a little on the slow side, but always has good intentions, and when it appears that Hugh Hefner wants her out of the house due to her age of 27, she must pack up her things and take off. She's homeless, but finds a local sorority that needs a house mother and a clue into a social life. She becomes their house mother and teaches them how to attract people, but she learns a little something too when she meets a sweet, smart, and sensitive guy, Oliver. Now things become a success with the sorority, but they become a little too shallow and Oliver wants more than a playboy bunny, he wants a girl to talk too, and to top that off the other sororities are upset to learn that the former losers are now hotties that everyone loves.

My one problem with this movie, even though it is enjoyable, the message isn't appropriate for young girls. I know it's just a movie, I don't want to nit pick, believe me, I know when a movie is harmless, but it's teaching young girls that you have to play yourself down to get a guy and that looks will get you everywhere at any time, also we are rooting for a person who just always has good intentions, why? That's all Shelley is, just a nice person, but she doesn't have many likable qualities. I liked the movie over all, I just think the script needed more work, nothing about this movie stood out, it's a disappointment to me. I would recommend it for silly fun, but otherwise, just wait for the rental.

6/10