The House Bunny: 1/2 star

Before getting into this review I have to admit that I had no desire to see this film. So, could my opinion of it have been pre-determined? Possibly. Do I think I went into it with an open mind? Yes, however my mind proceeded to be pummeled with bad jokes and was then closed for business. In fact, if you do plan on seeing this film make sure you switch yours off too, it will be too painful otherwise.

Anna Faris steps into her first leading role as Shelley; a Playboy Bunny whose life long dream of being a centerfold gets smashed when she is kicked out of the mansion on her twenty-seventh birthday. Struggling to find where she belongs in the real world, she becomes the housemother of fledgling sorority Zeta House at a nearby University. In order to save their sorority, Shelley has to help the girls become popular to obtain the required amount of pledges. A conspiracy against her is unveiled later in the film, but it is irrelevant and completely useless in the storyline. You could literally take every scene containing it out, and you wouldn’t even realize it was missing.

I’ve always maintained that critics have to keep an open mind and judge films not only for what they are, but also for what they are supposed to be. You can’t critique films such as ‘House Bunny’ and ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ based on the same criteria, it just isn’t fair. While my opening paragraph may make me sound like a movie elitist, I promise that I am judging this film against its peers. I understand that this film is too ridiculous to be taken seriously, however for me it never reaches the level of preposterous humor and just stays at a level of just being uncomfortable. Hey, one of the few jokes in this film that actually made me laugh was a poop joke. However, the rest of the times I laughed it felt like I was laughing AT the movie, not as a result of it.

I had high hopes for the supporting actors Emma Stone and Kat Dennings as I enjoyed them in their previous supporting roles. I also have no issue with Anna Faris. She is what she is and she does it well. However, the problem with this film is not the actors in any facet, it’s the material. It is vapid, and despite what Shelley thinks I don’t mean that in a good way. Everything feels really cheap, presumptuous and easy. Yes, there is even a “Run Forrest, run.” bit thrown in. I can’t imagine any great amount of time and effort going into this script. Most of the jokes are painfully obvious, but that fits right in with the turns the story takes. The stereotyped characters of the Zeta house, are so weird that I actually asked out loud at one point if they were supposed to be human or some kind of group of mutants. 

The real tragedy is that the girls of Zeta house are supposed to be the smart, dorky outcasts that the viewers should be able to relate to and root for. The script, however, paints some of them in a way that makes me wonder how they had the social skills to actually apply and get accepted to any university, and all of them into moldable pieces of clay for Shelley to do whatever she wants with. In a span of five movie minutes, their morals and beliefs are completely forgotten so Shelley can paint and dress them up to be popular. Somehow the clothes and makeup made them act differently as well. I’m not quite sure how that works. A little more resistance from the girls, and a little more of the real them underneath the clothes and makeup, would have been more believable not to mention an opportunity for actual comedy.

Surprisingly, there is more I could discuss about the film.  I could talk about Shelley’s love interest or go into more depth about why I felt wronged by the depiction of the main group of girls, but it's not worth it.  The bottom line is that this film could have been a smart and easygoing comedy in the right hands. I was hoping for something more like ‘Mean Girls’, but unfortunately the filmmakers opted for the easier route and created a difficult to watch and unfunny movie.