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... College.

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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

Anna Faris worked out for six weeks before shooting began.

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Goofs

During dinner, Shelly mentioned her butt to Oliver several times and even mentioned that she didn't have any tan lines. However when Shelly was walking around the house naked earlier in the movie, tan lines were definitely visible.

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Quotes

Shelley: Kindness is just love with its work boots on.

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Connections

Spoofs Forrest Gump (1994)

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Soundtracks

"Girlfriend"
Written by Avril Lavigne and Lukasz Gottwald
Performed by Avril Lavigne
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

The House Bunny Fails

Having also seen the ultra-violent Death Race in the same week as The House Bunny I realized one big thing; clichéd violence doesn't offer any kind of real reaction whereas clichéd humor can still manage to make you laugh as long as the delivery is entertaining and fresh. Sure, the dumb blond jokes in The House Bunny are old and played out, but Anna Faris gives you continuing reason to laugh in a film that is far funnier than it really deserves to be. The House Bunny plays on the sexy-but-dumb stereotype to the fullest extent and Faris has proved in the past, as a regular in the otherwise awful Scary Movie films, she can pull this off. On top of looking amazing, Faris gives this film every reason to exist. Co-stars Emma Stone, Kat Dennings and the increasingly emaciated Rumer Willis offer up a couple of additional laughs, but it is Faris that leads the charge. She plays right up to the edge of the dumb blond stereotype and only occasionally tosses in one too many clichéd jokes. Nevertheless, you forgive her thanks to a consistent number of chuckles throughout the film.

This isn't to say this is a classic comedy by any means, but anyone that goes to see House Bunny should walk away with a smile. This isn't a film to hate, it offers up exactly what the trailers promise and it delivers a little extra with an unexpected f-bomb dropped in the mix and a peek at Faris's little bum to keep the men paying attention.

Perhaps the one major shock would be Colin Hanks; it seems those Tom Hanks genes aren't quite paying off just yet. After a decent sized role in Peter Jackson's King Kong, Hanks has only managed to worm his way into mediocre films at best. Then again, he hasn't shown anyone any reason to give him anything with more meat on it so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Katherine McPhee of "American Idol" fame plays a small role in the feature as does Beverly D'Angelo, but both are relatively inconsequential.

The ladies in the audience are more likely to get a kick out of The House Bunny and the fellas dragged to the theater with them should be able to enjoy themselves as well despite the estrogen oozing of the screen. It isn't like this is a film you should rush out to the theater to see, but you could definitely do worse in your selection.