Critic Reviews
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J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
The result isn't very funny, and its sexual politics are as muddled as you'd expect, but Faris is sweet and likable as the sort of wise dumbbell Judy Holliday used to play.
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Anna Smith, Time Out
This aims for 'Legally Blonde'/'Mean Girls' status, but ends up being a throwaway, if entertaining, plea for casting directors to start taking Faris more seriously.
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Ruth Hessey, MovieTime, ABC Radio National
It takes sexism to a new low, and it manages to attack women in the last place on earth where they continue to outperform men -- in universities.
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Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
[Faris] gives an A performance in the kind of farce from which she's more than ready to graduate.
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Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
Anna Faris plays dizzy dolls as expertly as Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe. If Faris's movies fail that total commitment, she can hardly be blamed for taking the work.
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Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
The House Bunny gets the difference between being openhearted and empty-headed.
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David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...it's hard to deny the effectiveness of Anna Faris' energetically go-for-broke performance...
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Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Why the film works: Anna. Faris.
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Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
Not funny, not sexy, not even obnoxious enough to get anyone worked up, The House Bunny truly establishes a new low water mark for 2008 cinema.
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Karina Montgomery, Cinerina
The flatness of humor comes from the directing and timing, rather than necessarily the dialogue or actor skill. More than once I thought to myself, "That joke totally could have worked."
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Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
There's a sublimely goofy tone to this profoundly inept film that keeps us smiling from start to finish
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Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
With strong comic performances and some good laughs, The House Bunny is fluffy, forgettable fun, but it's no Legally Blonde.
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Derek Malcolm, This is London
This silly comedy has a few decent jokes in its otherwise dim screenplay. However, its parody is as toothless as Hefner probably is by now.
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Anthony Quinn, Independent
One could be forgiven for thinking that the American college system is merely one big popularity contest. Certainly, no one does anything outrageous like read a book.
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, Sun Online
It is all so cheesy, The Sneak almost felt like not wanting to be a film critic anymore.
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David Edwards, Daily Mirror [UK]
Every banality is trotted out right on cue, from the makeover montage to the awkward first date, to the usual hoary old moral about being true to yourself, making this one bunny due for the casserole pot.
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Christopher Tookey, Daily Mail [UK]
Depressingly for a film written by two women, it's relentlessly sexist in its insistence that, in order to attract men, women must appear brainless and dress like a hooker.
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, Heart 106.2
It is not a classic and it's not going to win any awards but it is great, simple, stupid fun - it does exactly what it says on the tin.
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Chris Hicks, Total Film
Fish-out-of-water formulaics are lifted by a starlet on the up. The story is pure bubblegum, but surrender to the silliness and you'll be endeared. A must for anyone who's been hanging on for Legally Blonde 3.
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Elliott Noble, Sky Movies
Without Anna Faris - undoubtedly the best thing in Scary Movies - this would be just another superficial wheeze about the perils of superficiality.
Read all 24 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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You know i was completely surprised at the giggles I had watching this movie. While not great it was fun in a strange strange way.
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Anna Faris leads a pack of female outcasts in a revolution against the usual college and social hierarchy types who don't like nonconformity from their wimmen critters. Her surprise rebuttal? Total capitulation, which means all the "ugly" women get perms. So , if… More
Anna Faris leads a pack of female outcasts in a revolution against the usual college and social hierarchy types who don't like nonconformity from their wimmen critters. Her surprise rebuttal? Total capitulation, which means all the "ugly" women get perms. So , if there's no real surprises here, we're left with a charisma package and, as such, its not bad.
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Good to see Anna Faris in something else other than a Scary Movie for a change. Although there isn't a great difference in the type of role she plays here. Kicked out of the playboy mansion she decides to become a house mother to a sorority house of misfits, hoping to make them… More
Good to see Anna Faris in something else other than a Scary Movie for a change. Although there isn't a great difference in the type of role she plays here. Kicked out of the playboy mansion she decides to become a house mother to a sorority house of misfits, hoping to make them more popular. Nothing original here, but it is funny at times in a cheesy, feel good way. Good soundtrack to and Anna Faris looks hot in every scene!
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Saw this movie on TV. Laughed once at Emma Stone's awkward character, and that's all. Didn't expect much going in, didn't get much coming out.
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The acting talent in The House Bunny is amazing for a chick flick but the weak plot is a big distraction and the humour and script is a bit too mild for the premise.
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Funny at times and Anna Faris is hilariously funny as usual.
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Terrible movie, Great for dumb laughs.
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This movie is neither great nor is it terrible. It's really not all that remarkable in any kind of capacity. It is watchable though. I will give it that. It's actually better than I thought it would be. I only watched it because I was bored, it was on TV, because I and… More
This movie is neither great nor is it terrible. It's really not all that remarkable in any kind of capacity. It is watchable though. I will give it that. It's actually better than I thought it would be. I only watched it because I was bored, it was on TV, because I and couldn't get compeleld to work on my Master's seminar paper because I really suck.
I chuckled a few times, grinned a lot, and had a nice good laugh or two with a couple of scens, but, even though this movie is funnier than I thought, it's still really not all that funny. This is mostly because of the bad script and lackluster direction. Anna Faris has never been a great actress, but she's okay here, and is fun to watch, even if just a little bit of the airhead schtick goes a very long way. Emma Stone is pretty good, but I'm biased because I'm in love with her. I'd think she's a good actress even if I wasn't really into her, though. Kat Dennings and Rumer Willis are also not too bad. I like Christopher McDonald and Beverly D'Angelo, but they're both underused here and have been far better in past roles.
I'm okay with the fact that htis movie is almost completely run of the mill and predictable, because we need movies like this to keep the balance of things. I would love it if there wasn't so much mediocre generic garbage like this around, but I'm not in charge. Could this movie have been a lot better and far more ocmpetent? Of course. I'm not the target audience, but even if I was I'd still say the same thing. If you need a few laughs and have nothing else to do, shut the brain off, have a few drinks, and give this a shot.
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08/08/2010 (TELEVISION)
Another flick I initially was never going to see but as it turns out, I did. It was on TV last night and I didn't have the remote on me and just kept on watching with no interest. As it progressed, I found myself giving into the hilarity and started to… More
08/08/2010 (TELEVISION)
Another flick I initially was never going to see but as it turns out, I did. It was on TV last night and I didn't have the remote on me and just kept on watching with no interest. As it progressed, I found myself giving into the hilarity and started to enjoy it.
It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be, I mean the cover is actually a turn off for my liking which is why I wasn't interested before. Poor "Anna Faris" always plays the same idiot in all the films she's been in, she should try to do something new now.
I hate to admit it, but I liked watching this and it is quite the amusing therapy I like to be treated with.
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i liked this movie. i thought it was really funny. not a great movie but i liked it. B
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Another bad Anna Farris flick. Annoying comedy with barely any good jokes. Anna Farris is a terrible actress and this is yet another statement to that effect. Who ever wrote this film should retire, or better yet, be put out of his misery because this is a tired out, virtually laugh… More
Another bad Anna Farris flick. Annoying comedy with barely any good jokes. Anna Farris is a terrible actress and this is yet another statement to that effect. Who ever wrote this film should retire, or better yet, be put out of his misery because this is a tired out, virtually laugh free film. You end cringing every time Farris opens her mouth. The House Bunny is not funny, it's crap
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I thought it was pretty funny, especially since it didn't try and take itself seriously or try to convey some important inner message like so many other movies deemed "Chick Flicks". Anna Faris and Emma Stone were pretty priceless in their roles. If the spirit of… More
I thought it was pretty funny, especially since it didn't try and take itself seriously or try to convey some important inner message like so many other movies deemed "Chick Flicks". Anna Faris and Emma Stone were pretty priceless in their roles. If the spirit of Marilyn Monroe was ever captured, this is it.
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I like The House Bunny, but I admit that it's not that great of a movie. The plot is about as basic and predictable as they come. There's an attempt at a positive message somewhere in here, but it gets muddled under a few conflicting ideas. It's not as funny as it could… More
I like The House Bunny, but I admit that it's not that great of a movie. The plot is about as basic and predictable as they come. There's an attempt at a positive message somewhere in here, but it gets muddled under a few conflicting ideas. It's not as funny as it could be, not very clever, and rarely original. And what was up with the soundtrack? Several times, a song would start playing in the background that had absolutely nothing to do with what was going on with the characters. Weird. But like I said, I still liked the movie.
Anna Faris is the cause of that goodwill. I'm a huge fan of hers. She's my favorite comedic actress, and it doesn't hurt that she looks absolutely incredible in The House Bunny. I'm a male, and a pretty woman with a sense of humor and a body like that, is going to make an impression on me. I'll readily admit that I'd love to see her do more dramatic roles (Shelley falls squarely into the type of character that Anna has played in many movies), or maybe just a more subtle kind of comedy. But she is very good at this wide-eyed, dumb kind of humor, and The House Bunny would have been much more of a dud in my eyes, without her.
As I said, this is by no means a great movie. For fans of Anna, I say check this out. Otherwise, it's not really worth recommending on its own merits. I'm just a sucker for Ms. Faris and her goofball antics.
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It gets interesting from the middle. But it's a bit boring too. I was tired of the "wanna-be sexy" part.
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<i>"Brains. Beauty. Bravery. These girls got it all... They just don't know it yet."</i>
When Shelly, a Playboy bunny, is tossed out of the mansion, she has nowhere to go until she falls in with the sorority girls from Zeta Alpha Zeta.… More
<i>"Brains. Beauty. Bravery. These girls got it all... They just don't know it yet."</i>
When Shelly, a Playboy bunny, is tossed out of the mansion, she has nowhere to go until she falls in with the sorority girls from Zeta Alpha Zeta.
<center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center>
Playboy Bunny Anna Faris attaches herself to a sorority full of losers in this Adam Sandler production. That should tell you in itself that this isn't a very good movie, because Sandler's Happy Madison production company has produced some egregious crap over the past few years. The House Bunny is a masterpiece compared to some of those films (e.g. Grandma's Boy), but it's mostly lame with only a handful of laughs, none of them too big. Faris is actually a pretty talented comedic actress, even if she really only has the bimbo persona to work with. But her line readings are often very clever. Emma Stone proves herself a talent to watch here. But after those two, no one else is particularly funny. I did like the film's almost 1980s-like feel, almost like this was a Revenge of the Nerds for girls. I just wish it were funnier.
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Not that funny, it's mainly aimed for teenage girls!
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Completely useless movie, but about half way into it, it did get a little funny. All-in-all it was worth wasting an hour and a half on.
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Anna Farris (Scary Movies) is proving herself to be one of the most adept physical comedians of today. This is formulaic fish-out-water comedy set in the familiar territory of collegiate coeds, so you'll be excused for thinking you've seen this movie before in a dozen… More
Anna Farris (Scary Movies) is proving herself to be one of the most adept physical comedians of today. This is formulaic fish-out-water comedy set in the familiar territory of collegiate coeds, so you'll be excused for thinking you've seen this movie before in a dozen incarnations. The nerdy outcast sorority adopts Farris as their housemother, and through no shortage of makeover montages, the girls come out of their shells and embrace their outer midriffs. However, The House Bunny doesn't just stoop to pandering a hypocritical "believe in yourself" message tied to beauty makeovers to win over the fellas, but it almost does. Farris is the true draw for the film and she goes for broke as the daffy Playboy Bunny. She's sweet and effervescent even at her most dimwitted; this woman knows how to sell a joke. Her comedic timing and line readings are superb. The movie isn't anything more than a pleasing diversion, but without Farris and her comic gifts it would be something much worse. The House Bunny does what it does well enough to be disposable entertainment. She's got the dumb blonde routine down cold, now it's time for filmmakers to allow Farris more opportunity to hone her other comedic chops.
Nate's Grade: B-
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"Manhole. I like that word. Manhole."
I really can't understand why I bothered to waste 90 minutes of my life for this unfunny 'Legally Blonde' / 'Nerds' copycat. I, once again, had troubles to not push the stop button but, like I've mentioned… More
"Manhole. I like that word. Manhole."
I really can't understand why I bothered to waste 90 minutes of my life for this unfunny 'Legally Blonde' / 'Nerds' copycat. I, once again, had troubles to not push the stop button but, like I've mentioned in my earlier reviews, I always give a chance to every movie I see.
Anna Faris, who without a doubt is cute as hell, plays a Playboy bunny who gets kicked out of Hef's mansion after her 27th birthday. But this wasn't Hef's choice, as she was set up by another bunny. So, she finds herself in a sorority house full of nerds. And of course, they have rivals that are beautiful as fuck and they have to compete against each other and the nerds become beautiful and lose their inner beauty and bla bla fucking BLA!! Fuck me with rusty nails!
Anna Faris tries to save the movie from its inevitable doom. She even gives us "funny" frog voices as she memorizes names. There are a couple of good parody scenes of 'Forrest Gump' and the legendary Marilyn Monroe steam scene but there are no miracle workers here. The script is so badly written with terrible pacing problems and a totally unnecessary love story. Why couldn't they give us nude Playboy bunnies instead. Oh yeah, Playboy have their own channel for that...
So, did I like 'The House Bunny'? Try to guess... Yes, I love beautiful women as any other guy. Why couldn't the filmmakers locate the story entirely to the Playboy mansion? That could've been a lot funnier but they just had to mess it up. I did not laugh even once, didn't even chuckle. 'The House Bunny' is one of the unfunniest movies I've ever seen.
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It was totally stupid, but I wasn't looking for anything profound. And there's something so amusing about Anna Faris playing a totally [naive] and dumb blonde. Don't expect much, but VAPID - I said it! and semi-humourous situations. Was alrie. [review TBC or not?]
Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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