The House Bunny: Movie Review (2008)

Directed by Fred Wolf, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, 98 minutes, rated PG-13.

The new Fred Wolf comedy, “The House Bunny,” stars Anna Faris as Shelley Darlingson, a blonde bombshell with perky pipes, a pep in her step and an abundance of hopes and dreams pinned to her chest.

And what a pair of hopes and dreams! Since forever, Shelley has longed to be a Playboy centerfold, and why not? Somebody has to have those dreams. Trouble is, somebody also has to lose them, and that would be poor Shelley. At the ripe old age of 27, she’s no longer considered desirable for Playboy magazine or, for that matter, the Playboy Mansion. As such, she’s booted from Hef’s smoldering nudie shack thanks to other complications that won’t be revealed here.

What can be explored is what happens to Shelley when she becomes a bum Bunny. Being cut loose from the compound isn’t exactly easy for somebody unused to the outside world, but things look up for Shelley when she finds her way to Zeta Alpha Zeta, a sorority that might as well be considered the isle of misfit sorority girls, the lot of whom are played by some pretty dour-looking lasses (Emma Stone, Rumer Willis, Kat Dennings, Katharine McPhee, Kiely Williams, Dana Goodman and Kimberly Makkouk).

Since the girls need several more sisters to join Zeta Alpha Zeta or their sorority will be shut down, Shelley makes it her business to whip them all into shape. Makeovers and boy tips ensue, with Shelley herself learning a few things about life along the way.

There is, it turns out, something to be said for being yourself and hitting the books, which Shelley must learn if she’s going to win over Oliver (Colin Hanks), a nice guy who runs a retirement home and who tolerates her clumsy stabs at sexiness because he sees in her what few have seen before--an endearing, interesting young woman worth getting to know for reasons that go beyond her looks.

Obviously, all of this is modeled after “Legally Blonde,” “Revenge of the Nerds” and “Clueless,” three films that featured scripts that were brighter than most expected. While that isn’t entirely true for “The House Bunny”--the movie is nearly undone by a run of cliches and too many stale jokes to suit--there’s no denying that it’s lifted by the formidable powers of Anna Faris, who is impossible not to like, who has beautiful comic timing and who deserves a better movie than this.

And that’s where it all becomes ironic. Just as Oliver sees in Shelly a wealth of promise that goes beyond mere stereotyping, that’s exactly how Hollywood must start viewing Faris if she’s going to have a fair shot at the movies she deserves.

Grade: C+