Official Movies Trailer: The House Bunny (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray]

The House Bunny (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray] Review

I bought this film for my wife, as it seemed to position itself as a chick flick (I assumed there would be enough content to keep my interest as we watched it). As it was, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is smart, funny, and a little deeper than its title might suggest. The blu-ray image was superb - as good as any I have seen. The premise of the film revolves around a Playboy bunny leaving the mansion and becoming the House Mother to a small group of apparently helpless and unpopular girls. If they don't get more pledges to their house soon, then their house is history. Enter the House Bunny, who gives them a makeover. So far, so predictable. However, this is where the film turns into something more interesting, as the house girls turn increasingly bitchy and our heroine is summoned back to the mansion to fulfil her dream of being a Playmate. Will she leave her house to follow her own dreams and, if she does, will they get the pledges they need? Watch it and find out. Oh, and my wife would never forgive me if I didn't mention the love story that is also integral to the film - the will she or won't she routine. The film left me with the intended feel good factor and a deeper appreciation of all things Playboy - Heff is a lucky guy - but this is a chick flick so I probably can't say that.

The House Bunny (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray] Overview

Ex-Playboy playmate takes job as sorority house mom.

The House Bunny (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray] Specifications

"I'm an expert in parties and boys. I'm a Bunny! Men write to me from prison--sometimes in their own blood!" So declares ex-Playboy Bunny Shelley, tossed out of the Mansion by a rival for her advanced age (27--"59 in bunny years," she's told). As played by the utterly fearless and appealing Anna Faris, Shelley becomes an unlikely post-feminist heroine, who finds a great use for her not-too-considerable expertise: being sexy. With nowhere else to live, Shelley finds herself as the house mother for a dying sorority, the Zetas, who are the audience for the rallying cry above. And the slightly misfit sisters, though wary, end up giving Shelley a sisterhood she could never have built back at the Grotto. To help build up the sorority, Shelley gives the young women her own peculiar tutorials in charm school--helping them raise their campus profile and recruit new pledges in the process. "When I'm done, every girl on campus will want to pledge Zeta!" Ignore her at your peril, girls. If the formula is a bit predictable, the pace is lively and the cast, headed by the wide-eyed Faris, is aces. American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee is a natural on camera, as is Rumer Willis, daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. The supporting cast includes the capable Colin Hanks and Beverly D'Angelo, and a bit too much screen time for the real-life Hugh Hefner, who maybe should have stayed on the set of The Girls Next Door. Still, Faris channels the cheerful, girly determination of Reese Witherspoon's Elle Woods--no surprise since The House Bunny was cowritten by Kirsten Smith, who wrote Legally Blonde. Fans of silly romances, hop to it.--A.T. Hurley

Stills from House Bunny (click for larger image)