DVD Report

Jason Katzman

While The House Bunny is a by-the-numbers comedy that's little more than Revenge of the Nerds in a sorority, it does have one big thing going for it: Anna Faris. Faris made a name for herself as Cindy Campbell in the Scary Movie series. It was there that she displayed comic timing and skill that seemed so natural as to be almost accidental. However, it became evident through roles in films such as The Hot Chick, Lost in Translation and Brokeback Mountain that Faris' success wasn't due to dumb luck.

Ironically, it was in the Ryan Reynolds vehicle Just Friends where it became obvious Faris' talents went deeper. Faris stole the show as Samantha James, a wildly self-indulgent music star. Faris created and developed the role of the excommunicated house bunny Shelley Darlingson herself and she has an executive producer credit on the film. Everything that's good about The House Bunny is what's good about Faris. Without her, the film never gets made. Without her, the film isn't funny at all.
After Shelley is kicked out of the Playboy mansion, she finds herself looking for a job as a house mother and the only sorority available is the Zeta house where, it just so happens, the sorority is about to lose its charter. This sets up several predictable scenarios: the house overcoming long odds to renew its charter and embarrass the sorority of snotty brats trying to run it out of town, and the emergence of every wall flower character at the sorority (which includes Rumer Willis, among others) into a beautiful butterfly. There's also a love interest for Shelley in the form of a simple guy (Colin Hanks) who works in an old folks home.

While Shelley is dippy, Faris imbues her with self-confidence and a certain intelligence that seems derived from her limited experiences in the Playboy mansion. Faris allows Shelley to be dumb, but she never allows her to be a joke. Whenever Shelley is mocked, Faris gives her a response that shows that there's more to Shelley than her image. It's this balance between two extremes that makes Shelley funny. For instance, Shelley has a voice inflection that she uses to remember names that’s hysterical no matter how many times Faris employs it. Whenever she hears a name for the first time, Shelley lowers her voice to near baritone levels and repeats the name. It's the kind of character quirk that propels the film forward instead of bogging it down and it's clear that it's all Faris.