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House Bunny, The
EMAILPRINTColumbia Pictures (Sony)
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 29 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by:
Karen McCullah Lutz
Kirsten Smith
Directed by: Fred Wolf
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 22, 2008
DVD: December 16, 2008
Running Time: minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for sex-related humor, partial nudity and brief strong language
Starring Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, Emma Stone, Kat Dennings, Dana Goodman, Katharine McPhee, Rumer Willis, Christopher McDonald, and Beverly D'Angelo
Shelley is living a carefree life until a rival gets her tossed out of the Playboy Mansion. With nowhere to go, fate delivers her to the sorority girls from Zeta Alpha Zeta. Unless they can sign a new pledge class, the seven socially clueless women will lose their house to the scheming girls of Phi Iota Mu. In order to accomplish their goal, they need Shelley to teach them the ways of makeup and men; at the same time, Shelley needs some of what the Zetas have – a sense of individuality. The combination leads all the girls to learn how to stop pretending and start being themselves. (Sony Pictures)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Los Angeles Times Michael Ordona
Among the sunnier, funnier films of the year, thanks largely to the zest with which Faris embodies a mental vacuum.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Scott Foundas
The movie is basically on one level and Faris on another -- in that exclusive aerie occupied by Judy Holliday, Carole Lombard, Lucille Ball and a few other blissfully original comedy goddesses.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
Manages to stand on its own two skyscraper heels thanks to the comic force of nature that is Anna Faris.
Read Full Review >Variety John Anderson
A blissfully broad comedy that should catapult Anna Faris into a singular kind of stardom.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Nathan Lee
This particular wheel hasn't been reinvented, but at least it gets a nice fresh coat of bubblegum-pink paint and a star to pilot it with aplomb.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
The picture is sharp, in a warm, fuzzy way, about the ways women can sometimes inflict cruelty on other women in the name of feminism. Feminism doesn't have to be the enemy of kindness, but sometimes -- alarmingly often -- it is.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
The movie flaunts its comedy roots like a messy bleach job.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Robert Koehler
For all her chops as a dramatic actor, she's our new Judy Holliday and Goldie Hawn, only even sharper.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The movie is a commercial for Hugh Hefner that makes his magazine seem like "Seventeen."
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Bunny is fashioned as a bawdy comedy with heart, but its reliance on formula undercuts the amusing moments.
Read Full Review >Slate Dana Stevens
The movie also has some embarrassing laugh-free stretches, but Faris holds everything together with bubbly intelligence, unexpected line readings, and a few deft pratfalls.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
So haphazardly written and directed that it barely qualifies as a movie, The House Bunny is watchable solely for the comic stylings of the blond veteran of the "Scary Movie" series.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith may not have any original ideas, but they write some good lines and have a great actress to deliver them.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Despite a winning performance by Anna Faris, the cutest thing in platform shoes since Goldie Hawn, the film falls on its keister so many times that before long the perky pinkness turns bruising black-and-blue.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Faris has mostly logged time in dire vehicles like The House Bunny, which are dumb-dumb to her smart-dumb.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
not a good comedy. But there's no airbrushing out the funny surrounding its star.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Steve Davis
This empty-headed comedy about a Playmate who finds herself a house mother to a group of misfit sorority sisters is little more than a recycled version of "Legally Blonde" with bunny ears.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Yes, from "Blonde" to "Bunny," it's abundantly evident that the two scribes have mastered, truly mastered, the serious art of self-plagiarism.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joanne Kaufman
Unfortunately, Ms. Faris has neither an adroit script -- House Bunny is a stale collection of dumb bunny jokes -- nor Ms. Witherspoon's wily charm. And the filmmakers do Ms. Faris no favors by inviting comparisons to Marilyn Monroe.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
The resulting hodgepodge of unfunny, sophomoric humor and PG-13 T&A, frosted by a sheen of appallingly nauseous "drama," makes for such a noxious brew that it's amazing viewers stay in their seats for the entire production.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Michael N. gave it a9:
This movie was absolutely hysterical. Anna's character was very funny, and it was consistent throughout the entire movie. It is by far the funniest movie of 2008, in my opinion. I would've prefered tohave the character Carrie May shown a little bit more than she was, as she was insanely funny during the parts she was in. Katharine McPhee probably gets the prize for best performance in the movie. She played her part perfectly, and she definitely has a future in acting. I like how most of the cast was semi- famous actors and actresses, because they are notable, and good, but at the same time, therewasn't really too high of an expectation for the movie. However, I think it was one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time.
CS W. gave it a2:
Terrible disappointment. Could have been very cute, but mishandled and badly written so it ended up a mess. Don't waste your money.
James C. gave it a6:
Well, me and 4 friends wanted to see a movie. 2 of us wanted to see The House Bunny, and the other two (one being me) wanted to see something else... But, since The House Bunny was immediately playing, we all bought tickets and went in. I saw the commercials, and in all honesty, it didn't appeal to me, so as the previews went by, I thought to myself "oh joy, here comes a below mediocre ride". However, I will admit, that at the end, yes, I liked it. I actually liked it. It was funny in some parts, and dry in some, but it was alright, and yes, I liked it. My major criticism though is that a most of the film takes place in a college dorm; in this dorm lives, of course, college students. So why don't any of these students do to class, have homework, projects, assignments, or even so much as TALK about classes? This film has practically NOTHING to do with college. My other criticism is that about 1/4 through the movie, the 7 (I believe) 'nerdy' and socially-unacceptable girls change in appearance and personality; after they changed, I could not recognize them at all (well, I suppose after awhile I could pick out 3 of them). Also, I think their dramatic shift from uncool to 'fabulous' was way too early in the film, and basically consisted of a 1-minute montage consisting of lots and lots of make-up being applied. So yes, The House Bunny has it's laughs, but it's not without it's theme issues. Also, prepare to be confused as to which character is which, if you decide to watch.
Jessi B. gave it an8:
I am in a sorority with the same short name of “Zeta” so when I first saw the trailer to this movie I was curious and angry. I could not believe that they could use this name and I was praying that this would not place yet another bad rep on Greek life. Fortunately I felt like the only people getting mocked were the “house bunnies” and I was glad to see them put a positive spin on sorority life. When the movie started out I was skeptical but I feel that Anna Ferris did an amazing job and that this movie would not have survived without her. This movie had hilarious one-liners and subtle jokes that kept the whole theater laughing. This movie also showed a strong sense of sisterhood and showed that good people really do overcome bad ones. This movie also showed that anyone has potential and that looks aren’t the best quality in a human being. It singled out the “pretty” girls to be rude and obnoxious while the “ugly” girls had amazing and quirky personalities. I feel that this movie puts out a positive role model for younger girls and it doesn’t follow the typical stereotype for sororities. I can truly say that I enjoyed this movie and was not upset leaving the theater.
Chad S. gave it a5:
Twenty was antediluvian in Menudo years. In the house of "wome-nudo", it's twenty-seven. Beauty and brains, that's the happy medium all women should hanker for, because that's "what boys like". A sensitive "boy" like Oliver(Colin Hanks), who looks after oldsters in a retirement home, prizes scintillating dinner conversation above a gravity-defying rack, right? In "The House Bunny", a homeless bunny imparts her Playboy ideology to some ostracized sorority girls, who in return, help Shelley(Anna Faris) feel better about herself when they point the "dumb blonde" in the direction of the nearest library. Since "The House Bunny" never shows these nerdy girls excelling in the classroom, or anything to compensate for their lack of success with the opposite sex, looking f***able is the only currency that matters. To suggest that Shelly needs a cerebral cortex makeover is disingenuous, at best, in a film that received Hugh Hefner's endorsement. While Natalie(Emma Stone) gets her man by being the best version of herself, Shelly wins Oliver over without ever having to read another book. The fact that Shelley turns down a chance to be a Playboy centerfold is beside the point. She's still hopelessly vapid. No man ever dates a woman for her brains.
Daniel C. gave it a5:
Wait for this one to come out on DVD. There are funny parts, but nothing to rush to the theater for.
