The House Bunny: Review By MovieBuff

Sep 2nd, 2008 by MovieBuff
FIVE stars goes out for visuals... grrrrr hamana hamana hamana
  • OVERALL
    3.0
    WORTHY
  • Story
  • Acting
  • Directing
  • Visuals
Okay… this was not my first choice of the evening but since I was late to the start of the movie Traitor, I bought a ticket to House Bunny. I figured if this movie was bad, at least I would see some hot girls at the Playboy Mansion. That sold me and in I went.

I’m happy to say, I was not totally disappointed in this movie. I didn’t expect much since we’ve seen this movie a dozen times. Maybe not this particular one, but we’ve definitely seen the ugly duckling turn swan premise several times. In all of these movies, we see our heroes go from ugly to beautiful and learn some kind of lesson at the end… ususally that beauty gets you noticed but not for the right reasons. Well, this movie is no different… but the visuals…. whoa… the visuals are very nice haha. Wow, that sounded so superficial. Sorry.

The story begins with Shelly Darlingson (played by Anna Faris)… a playboy bunny who lives at the Playboy Mansion who longs to be a covergirl for the famous magazine. She’s about to celebrate her 27th birthday and she strongly believes that old Hugh Hefner is going to give her the present of her dreams… the cover for the November issue. After her birthday party, she wakes the next morning and receives a note, supposedly written by Hef himself, that tells her she must move out of the mansion… like NOW. Afterall, 27 is like 59 in bunny years… THAT was funny but so dumb. Isn’t Bridget Marquardt like 34 years old and still living with the big guy? Hell, I think she turns THIRTY-FIVE this month. What is THAT in bunny years? 100? Anyway… Shelly leaves and is now totally on her own. Something she hasn’t been since she moved into the mansion. She looks for a job and finds it as a house mother for a sorority full of misfits. Here is where the fun eye candy begins. In order to save the sorority, the misfit girls must become popular and Shelly knows just how to do it. Make them beautiful. That was simple, huh? The movie then becomes the process of the transformation from ugly ducklings to beautiful swans.

Once the girls become swans, I kind of lost what the story is about. Don’t blame me…. some of those girls were hot. I was distracted. I never realized how HOT Anna Faris really is. Guess it was all those short shorts and cut off halter tops, etc. (wink wink). Emma Stone was pretty hot herself… which made me feel kinda weird since she’s still 19 and doesn’t turn 20 til November. But you young boys are gonna love her. Then there was Katharine McPhee… I knew the girl had vocal talent (I watched her lose to that idiot Taylor Hicks on Season 5 of American Idol)… but she has some acting talent too. She’s not bad for the sore eyes either… even if she is pregnant most of the movie. Some of the misfits had minor roles and were forgettable even though they TRIED to fit some screen time for them. Bruce Willis and Demi Moore’s daughter, Rumer, has a part in the movie as a misfit who wears a freaking body brace. For the exception of the scene where she runs after a guy, I almost forgot she was in it. And therest of the misfits? Forget it. You won’t remember them after the movie. Why? Cause it was the HOT ones they concentrated on.

I’m afraid it’s the truth. Our society is just plain superficial. Looks is what catches our eye. We may say that personality is what we look for in our opposites, but that is only AFTER we get attracted by the beauty on the outside. And this movie shows that so well. The moral speech at the end by Anna Farris is almost totally forgotten. I kind of heard her say “blah blah blah… blah blah… it’s the inside that counts… blah blah blah”. Totally went over my head because it was just for the movie. Truth is… we are ALL superficial. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it is STILL the beauty that the eye beholds that attracts us to people. If you think a person of the opposite sex is not attractive, you won’t approach them or even THINK of asking them out. They may have the exact personality you may be looking for, but you’ll never know because you never approached them. Why? Not pretty. It’s so sad.

Anyway… the movie does have a few laughs (not many) that stand out. They even have a few lines that were funny. I got a kick out of “Man… I’ve gotta meet this bird” line. You’ll know what I’m talking about if you go see it. I saw Anna Farris do the” Marilyn Monroe on the manhole” pose in the trailer… I laughed then and I laughed again when I saw the movie. Funny.

Overall, the movie is okay. I can’t rave about it too much but the hour and a half was just about right. Not too long and not too short. I recommend it to any guy… not only because the girls are hot, but the story was tolerable. And I recommend it to the ladies as well. The ugly girl turned beautiful princess is always a story that females enjoy… just look at the Princess Diaries. Try to save a little money though and go during a matinee.

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Comments (15)

  1. MovieBuff

    I've been official for almost a couple of weeks now JB... and all of you guys are my buddies... why in the world would I forget you guys? haha You haven't seen any changes in me... have you?

    Soon after I became official... Vamp and CBF joined the official club too. Then I had a little chat with Beebs and recommended he view some of Visionary's reviews. Lo and behold, he liked them and made him official too.

    Thanks for the support.

    5 years agoby @moviebuff123Flag

  2. The First Avenger: JohnnyBlaze

    yeah move buff. u def r the man. an if these guys cant read the words in your reviews, then ur better off. heck u got my vote as becoming a "official" an my support. jus dont go 4 gettin us "regs" when ya hit the big time jk hahaha

    5 years agoby @johnnyblazetb82Flag

  3. CBF

    I think you would make a great official reviewer, Moviebuff123, as I think would I (not bragging), you write spectacularly; but where is the response from these people? I refuse to believe they were just "pulling everyone's chain"..?? Have you heard a response back?

    5 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag

  4. The Dark Knight

    wow yeeaaahhh there you go

    5 years agoby @thedarkknight23Flag

  5. Brian

    Official!

    5 years agoby @brianFlag

  6. ???

    jaja yeah i koved this movies but 3 stars well oh well people have diffrent opinions right? anyways great review..

    5 years agoby @chombeFlag

  7. MovieBuff

    There is a reason i use the username of Moviebuff. I enjoy watching movies... with friends, family, and even alone. As I mentioned on my review, I saw this movie only because I missed the Traitor showing. But what I found out about this movie is that its an ok date flick. You're not going to be cringing at how horrible it is... like some other movies I saw the last couple of weeks... its a nice change of pace. And if your girlfriend, wife, significant other is with you... it's a movie you can take her to and actually tolerate it.

    Like I said in the review... "I can't rave about it too much... but the story was tolerable".

    One last thing... a couple of weeks back I was offered a spot as an "official" reviewer. Beebs and the Movieweb gang have just asked again if you take a look at the first comment on this thread. What do you all think? Already got a "yes" from NosePrint. I'm very interested but I wonder if I'm good enough to be "official". Interested in some feedback from you guys.

    5 years agoby @moviebuff123Flag

  8. The CryptKeeper

    Great review, MB123. I still don't think I will be seeing this though, even on DVD. NO, I am not gay.

    5 years agoby @catwomanFlag

  9. Saquin Turok 'X'

    Another nice review, but I find myself agreeing with BlizZzard on this (besides the hating Anna Faris bit).

    5 years agoby @teesterxFlag

  10. MovieNerd

    Great review. This will be a renter for me.

    5 years agoby @nickoFlag

  11. Vamp

    Great review dude! Although, I think it's a low score, but at least you liked it! See people, LISTEN TO VAMP! He knows his things! lolz, great job again.

    5 years agoby @vampire2000Flag

  12. BlizZzario, Bizniches

    ** You know what; f*ck it I'll just repost what I wrote again this is an original comment on V2k's House Bunny Review**

    I hate Anna Faris, not particular on blondes, all the Scary Movies, Date movie, Disaster movie, what have you, there not like the originals (Airplane, Naked Gun) and they're ruining comedy, now they're just too many sh*ty, low brow jokes back to back, its joke after joke after joke after joke, no break between sh*t, and I won't see this movie, but if people want cheap laughs, rent it, why do I say this before what I'm going to say, so I don't have to explain myself later,

    I never want to see this movie, for the reason Raoul Duke said, to me the movie looks like sh*t, and people can get mad I don't care, I also don't think Pineapple Express will be that funny either, but I'll see and I haven't seen that either, and I have a very good sense of humor, but 95% of the time I can tell if a movie is good of not from the preview, I will say there is some allure to Anna Faris, in this movie but I can't pin point why, it could be the clothes, or the abs, she has in this movie, but back to what I was saying, if this movie had come out years earlier, it would have been a highscool movie instead of a college movie, which tells you were the demographic is towards, its for young teens, who think this is how college will be, or you could say this is a future guide for college, it not, V2k I'm not saying that's why you like the movie but you do fit the demographic and being a comedy its going to blow reality out of proportion, and make the characters look sophomoric, cartoonish, you pick you word that fits, and I've taken a class on the comedy genre, and this movie falls in the realm of "satire/screwball/and some slapstick" but mainly "reductio ad absurdum", a simple human mistake blown way out of proportion or magnified to a state of absurdity, which isn't that funny, as the other subgenres are, V2k your entitle to your opinion and here is mine, the movies sub-par, but the movie going to do well, because people like a cheap thrill.

    BlizZzard

    5 years agoby @blizzzardFlag

  13. BlizZzario, Bizniches

    How old are you, Moviebuff, if your saying that, about the girl in the movie, and I too said the same thing after seeing the preview, about Anna Faris, they did something to make her look better, I think its the six pack, high heels, legs, skirts, and lips, which all had something done to them, and I'm not a blonde nor Anna Faris fan, so it quite perplexing, but what ever, I don't think I will ever see this, unless I'm board at home and there really is nothing on, or someone makes me watch it, I stop watching bad, stupid movies along time ago.

    If you want to see more of what I wrote about this movie, check V2k's House Bunny review

    BlizZzard

    5 years agoby @blizzzardFlag

  14. NosePrint

    bythe way...is the "hamana hamana hamana" from Eddie Murphys Delierious? extreme lols- good god! I saw Delerious as a new release on VHS! how old am I?! *faint*

    5 years agoby @noseprintFlag

  15. NosePrint

    great review with the average moviegoer in mind. Quite often its hard for guys to take a gamble on what to watch with their significant other. This helps in that respect, & respect is what I's got for you! cheers again...(take Beebs offer!)

    5 years agoby @noseprintFlag