Here is a movie that when you just see a trailer or commercial you cannot imagine is going to be any good. You're right, there really is no way to make it look good. The movie is as cliched and corny as you think it is. Sometimes you have to wonder how stuff like this ever gets the go ahead to be made. I am sure you go to movies sometimes and when it is over you walk out shaking your head wondering if anyone actually read the script, much less actually watched what they made. If they had, you have to wonder just how or why they thought it was good. On the flip side of that coin, you can take an alternate point of view. Every so often what we need is some light and goofy fun, and this actually delivers on that level. Sure, it is not perfect, and yes, it could have been better, but there is no denying that it offers a modestly enjoyable time.
Much like Death Race (also opening this weekend), The House Bunny is not about being a "good" movie, and it does not try to pass it off as such. The material is familiar and the past couple of years have seen a few films tell virtually the same story, most recently Sydney White (the Snow White retread with Amanda Bynes). You are not going to discover anything new here, the movie does not push boundaries and it is not edgy or deep and meaningful. What it is, believe it or not, is funny. The main reason that it is funny is Anna Faris.
The story is a simple one. Shelley is a young woman who has spent a good part of her life as a Playboy Bunny living in the Playboy Mansion. She is one of the most popular girls there, but she has yet to realize her dream of being a centerfold. Problems begin when she turns twenty-seven and receives a letter from Hugh Hefner (playing himself) asking her to leave. So off she goes, homeless and unsure of where to turn. Fortunately, she stumbles upon Greek row, where she falls into the position of house mother for a group of rejects that are about to lose their charter unless they can get a large influx of pledges. Oh, fortuitous time! Shelley is an expert at getting people's attention.
She works with the housemates, including nerdy Natalie (Emma Stone, also in The Rocker this weekend), body brace-wearing Joanne (Rumer Willis — yes, the daughter of Bruce and Demi), and the pregnant Harmony (American Idol contestant Katherine McPhee). Over the course of the movie both sides learn from each other. The geeks and losers learn how to be pretty and actually like themselves, while Shelley learns what it takes to be smart.
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