The House Bunny

Fluffy comedy about a Playboy bunny, Shelley (Anna Faris), who's unceremoniusly kicked out of the Playboy Mansion for being too old. 27 is "like 59 in bunny years", so we're told. Homeless and alone, Shelley stumbles onto a college campus and becomes the sorority mother to a group of misfits (short girl, fat girl, girl with piercings, pregnant girl and girl with glasses are all covered). The girls need 30 pledges to their sorority house if they don't want to be turfed out and Shelley convinces them that she can help. Her mixture of enthusiasm, hair straighteners and pastel-coloured clothing help win the girls popularity but is a new wardrobe and attention from the opposite sex really what they want?

There's an interesting movie here...somewhere. Rather than present a good looks and popularity vs. intelligence and integrity dichotomy, The House Bunny settles for an uneasy middle ground. In this respect it treads similar ground to Mean Girls, although it's nowhere near as clever. Indeed, nearly all of the laughs come from Anna Faris' inspired redefinition of the dumbe blonde. She's a marvellous comic presence in need of a better movie. Subplots involving a conspiracy inside the Playboy mansion and a romance with Colin Hanks' drippy Oliver don't go anywhere and the influence of Adam Sandler (the movie was produced by Happy Madison productions) hangs heavy over several scenes. This has a few funny moments and is worth seeing for Faris alone, but it's no Legally Blonde.