The House Bunny

Reviewed by Lauren Smelcher

If I had to pick a colour to describe The House Bunny, it would be hot pink. It’s fun, kitschy and very, very girly.

Anna Faris (Scary Movie, ‘Entourage’) stars as Shelley Darlington, a Playboy Bunny whose big ambition is to be Miss November. Unfortunately, she’s unceremoniously kicked out of the Playboy Mansion before she gets the chance. She picks up her rhinestone-studded luggage and makes her way to a sorority house filled with ‘misfit’ girls. Much hair-teasing, lip-glossing and cheekbone-highlighting ensues as Shelley gives the girls makeovers and attempts to save their fledgling house.

The plot is a little thin (and borrows liberally from Legally Blonde) but the movie’s standout is Faris. She’s tested the comic waters before - parodying Neve Campbell’s Scream character Sidney Prescott in Scary Movie and playing a Hollywood starlet in ‘Entourage’ – but her genuine naivety as Shelley marks her as the new Reese or Renee.  Her wide-eyed portrayal of the nicest Bunny there ever was is actually incredibly endearing, not to mention laugh-out-loud hilarious. To wit: ‘The eyes are the nipples of the face.’

Other highlights include cameos from Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and his girlfriends (better known as the Girls of the Playboy Mansion) and goofy Colin Hanks (think: older version of Adam Brody) as Shelley’s love interest, Oliver. Hef is pretty cute (well, as cute as an 82-year-old can be), even if his girls are mildly irritating.

With a rocking soundtrack (featuring The Ting Tings, Muse and Rooney) and appearances by Rumer Willis, Katharine McPhee and rising star (trust me on this one) Emma Stone, The House Bunny is definitely a film to drag your best girlfriends to.