The House Bunny

My interest in this movie was solely hinged on my new love for Emma Stone. I am not the biggest Anna Faris fan and I don't think she is hot enough for Playboy, but mostly the trailers just made her look like an absolute idiot. What this world really needs is another dumb hot blonde, right? But Emma Stone, oh Emma Stone. Then a video was released of the girls singing an updated, wanna be rap version of "I know what boys like" and I was pretty much turned off to seeing the movie. Seriously, that video is one of the most atrocious things I have ever seen. Look it up on Youtube. However, free movies are hard to turn down, plus I like watching the movies we have so I can tell people what I think when I ask.

Shelley was an orphan who grew up ugly, so no one wanted her. Then she became hot and became a Playboy bunny, being featured in the magazine for the spreads "Girls with G.E.D.'s", "Girls from the Midwest" and "Girls with Charlie Sheen." She has just turned 27 and been informed she must move out of the Playboy mansion. After a night in jail (more on that later) she needs a place to live and becomes the house mother for a sorority. Unfortunately the sorority is for the 7 ugly/weird/smart girls on campus who need to get 30 pledges otherwise their house will be shut down and bought by the evil pretty girl sorority. Never fear, makeovers are here! Shelley teaches the girls how to be hot, how to flirt and how to be popular. Some of the guidelines are "always compliment a guy" and "Guys hate smart girls." Girl Power indeed! During the course of the movie, the sorority becomes popular, Natalie (Emma Stone) the head of their sorority gets the boy and the girls lose themselves. When picking pledges- they have their pick now- the girls are all catty and making fun of noses and whatnot. They fire Shelley who goes back to Playboy(More on that later) but in the end they all need each other. Littered in the movie are scenes of the evil sorority pulling stunts on the good sorority and scenes of Shelley on a date with a guy who is smart and sweet, therefore immune to Shelley's brand of idiocy.

Anyone who watches The Girls Next Door knows Hugh Hefner would never kick a girl out of his house and of course during the movie we find out an evil bunny forged the note to Shelley and also forged Shelley's note to Hef saying she joined the Peace Corp. It seems the writers wrote the movie one way, let Hef read it and he said "I would never kick the girls out", so they threw this evil bunny thing in at the last second. It is a lame plot point, but I guess the movie could not exist without it. Also, when she is kicked out of the mansion, she has no money for a hotel room? This entire premise seems aimed at setting up a blow job joke. She is living in her car, brushes her teeth and spits it out on the street, a cop sees it, asks her to get out of the car and as he is going for his Breathalyzer machine, he says "I am going to need you to blow on this" and she thinks he means a blow job so she slowly lowers herself out of frame. Now, I am all for blow job jokes, but the set up takes forever and seems so pointless. These are only two instances of horrid story issues.

That being said, the first 35 to 40 minutes are actually pretty funny. Emma Stone, as the uber nerdy Natalie (She thinks a good fundraiser would be a Battlestar Gallactica night), gets a whole lot of laughs. She proves a pretty good comic actress and is capable of handling the kind of awkward girl humor in contrast of Anna Farris' stupid girl act. If you like Anna Farris you will most likely enjoy watching her in this, although she isn't nearly as good of a physical comic actress as people thinks he is, in my opinion. Kat Dennings and Rumor Willis get some laughs as side characters and Kat Dennings is super hot when the characters go through the make over montage. Once the girls complete their hotness transition, the movie loses itself in stupidity. The girls throw parties and everything is going well and of course, they get boys and blah blah blah.

Movies like this are well intentioned but the fact remains, the only reason the girls gain the popularity is because they sold themselves out to be popular. They changed their physical identities as well as their personalities. Yes, in the end they make their sorority about accepting anyone as they are, but it never would have happened if they didn't slut themselves up. The message may be about acceptance, but it is also about how you have to be hot before anyone will pay attention to you. If the final scene in the movie had come before the transition, no one would have paid attention in any way shape or form. Emma Stone, as a nerd couldn't get anyone to listen, but Emma Stone in a mini skirt, heels and hot girl make up can command a room. Is that really the way it should be?

The House Bunny has a few laughs towards the beginning, but it is a mess overall. Anna Farris is hot, sure, but maybe I just do not get her as a comic actress. I think Malin Ackerman would have been so much better in this, plus she is hot enough to be in Playboy. Also, a movie about a Playboy bunny that is PG-13 is stupid. There is plenty of T&A, which I cannot complain about, but I think for impressionable 12-15 year old girls, the message might get lost in the idea of dumbing yourself down to get the hot guy to notice you.

Final Grade: D+