The House Bunny (2008)

There was just something about that poster for The House Bunny. You know the one, where Anna Faris in bunny ears is staring off into space out the left hand side of the frame. At once, the poster is mesmerizing, hilarious and appropriate. An image that perfectly sets up this comedy about a Playboy Bunny that finds herself on the street and turns to a “dweeb” filled sorority to find purpose and a home. This isn’t Annie Hall, but it doesn’t pretend to be either. It’s just a fun little film anchored perfectly by Faris’ mastery of the blank stare and playing dumb without being dumb.

Shelly (Faris) finds herself turfed out of the Playboy Mansion shortly after her 27th birthday. With really no marketable skills, Shelly finds her way to a local university’s sorority row, which she immediately makes the connection as “Little Playboy Mansions.” So Shelly becomes the new House Mother of the Zeta Alpha Zeta sorority, home of the seven, biggest, female misfits on campus. A hare’s breath from loosing their charter for lack of new members, smart cookie Natalie (Emma Stone) immediately sees the value in Shelly as means of drawing attention of boys, which means drawing the attention of more girls to Zeta.

Obviously there is a philosophical dilemma at the heart of the film: the fact that Shelly turns the ruggedly individual girls of Zeta into Barbie dolls in order to be popular. Okay, fine, obviously a movie called “The House Bunny” isn’t going to be a advocate for feminism, but I think it finds a relatively decent balance between the comedy and a message of be as you are. No, really. I’m being serious. It’s worth noting too that the script was written by two women, the two women behind Legally Blonde and Ella Enchanted actually, so there is a feeling at work that there’s a true female voice behind all the male pandering.

But what centres it all is Faris’ brilliantly dimwitted portrayal of Shelly. She’s endearing, even when her naivety and foolhardiness are being played for laughs, like her constant mispronunciation of “philanthropy.” At least there was no “it’s cool to be dumb” message in the end, as Shelly tries her hand at self-improvement, forgoing her previous dream of being a Playmate. Naturally, Hugh Hefner cameos, and actually has a fairly substantial part, which allows him opportunity for some self-deprecating humour. (A depressed Hef? Heaven forbid!) Stone and the other Zeta girls played by Kat Dennings, Rumer Willis, Kiely Williams, Dana Goodman and Americal Idol runner-up Katherine McPhee gel really well together and play off Faris’ bimbo routine with funny results.

But The House Bunny can’t escape what it is and that’s a light and frothy comedy that appeals to young women that can identify with the desire to be popular and get made-up to look like a model. Fortunately, there’s also enough message in the end to say that it doesn’t have to be all that. It doesn’t break any rules and serves as an above average Cinderella-story that would be more universal if it weren’t for the icky fact of the matter in what Playboy is all about. It won’t break your brain in thinking about it and that’s okay, as the film proves, you don’t have to be always thinking so good… well. I meant “well.”