The House Bunny - A Movie Review-

Okay, here's me gloating at the top of my... uh, ...gloating...  -ness. ANNA FARIS!

Anna Faris has proved over and over that she can carry a movie, even if it sucks. I LOVE ANNA FARIS!!! The girl is funny, charming, and as the choice for lead in The House Bunny (from, ironically, the writers of Legally Blonde) she proves once and for all that she is the new Reese Witherspoon. Faris has done great unsung work in some big dramatic films (Brokeback Mountain, Lost In Translation), great charmingly funny work in some forgettable, shitty movies (The Scary Movie franchise, The Hot Chick), and a fine comedic performance in a particularly good indy comedy (Smiley Face). 

This time she does the big budget summer romance/comedy/feel-good role and as usual whenever she's on the screen you can't take your eyes off her! She just does something right whenever she steps in front of the camera. This is why I drew the Reese comparison; not because I think Reese is no longer relevant (as long as she's dating Jake Gylenhaal she'll be relevant to me!), but because she always delivers a quality performance no matter what the twisted, misogynistic studios put her in. Sometimes her films sell, sometimes they don't, but Faris is ALWAYS the best thing about whatever she's in, and thats a huge compliment!

Okay, The Poop:

Anna Faris plays Shelley, a Playboy bunny living the luxe life in the Playboy Mansion with Hef (obviously played as more than a cameo by the man himself!) and dreaming of being the next centerfold. Her whole life has come to her twenty-seventh birthday at which she expects to be awarded the coveted title of Miss November. After an incredible (and incredibly sanitized version of a) Playboy party she wakes the next day to a letter from Hef demanding she leave the mansion immediately. She leaves, making herself homeless, and soon stumbles upon a group of loser sorority girls without a house mother and about to lose their chapter due to lack of pledges. Reluctantly they take her on and learn the finer points of fitting in, with some moral lessons along the way. 

Or something like that. 

Shelley teaches the brainy, grim-looking (mostly) girls of the Zeta House how to be cool and popular, with some very funny moments including a Forrest Gump tribute that was perhaps too heavily edited but still funny. Under her Playboy Bunny tuteledge they go from fugly to fab in just under two songs. Most of the girls are resistant except for the desperate and nerdy Natalie (Superbad's Jules) who helps rally the girls to save the sorority which if it doesn't receive at least thirty new pledges will be kaput. 

We know where this is going. Everyone, somehow, is gonna be happy at the end. So I'll float a few scenarios;

1) Shelley fails but they learn the true meaning of sisterhood and start their own sorority

2) Shelley succeeds, the girls become popular and those girls from the competing sorority are jealous and make those seething "ussshhhhh" noises with clenched fists as the Zeta girls party at the end

3) Shelley goes back to the Playboy Mansion and fulfills her dream of being a centerfold

Any and all of these lame endings are possible, and they don't even address the possible romantic sub-plots. But who the fuck cares?!

Shelley's journey is made fun to watch thanks to Faris and despite some questionable plot points is ultimately satisfying and enjoyable. 

Natalie (Emma Stone) is equally watchable and if I didn't predict it from Superbad I'll predict it here; Emma Stone is gonna be big... after some time. She's a quality actress with the unfortunate curse of being waay good-looking. This will limit her parts for awhile until the studios wake up; as with Faris, as with Witherspoon!

Stone has a funny, if somewhat affected-by-Superbad delivery and a charm which exudes that so called 'it' factor. She's already working on other projects, as is Faris. 

Just you wait!

An oddly underused cameo came from Beverley D'Angelo who, although good in all her scenes was almost unrecognizable thanks to bad angles. I saw her name in the opening credits but forgot about her until I saw her much later and said to myself, "Holy shit! That's Beverley D'Angelo! She looks amazing!". It's true, I said that to myself. The problem is she wasn't focused on enough during her scenes as the cunty house mother of the competing sorority for me to recognize her. Shame on the director. A few memories from the Vacation movies might've solicited more laughs.

All said I enjoyed this movie. Anna Faris is ALWAYS a joy to watch (do you finally get it?!), and the story, though flawed and perhaps mis-edited is fun and will be appreciated by teenaged girls, homos, and the fat women who love them along with anyone else who enjoys a good airhed-with-heart comedy. This is going to be a Sunday afternoon movie on TBS that you switch to right before leaving the house and instead have to sit and watch for the simple fact that it's on and you want to see it. But that won't be for a while! 

And if you're in Toronto, as of, er, Blog-time, The House Bunny is still playing at the AMC Interchange 30, so check your local listings. Hehe. 

The DVD is dropping on Dec. 19.