The House Bunny

The House Bunny movie review: When the mansion’s favorite bunny, Shelley (Anna Faris), is kicked out of the hottest house in town, she gets lost in the wilderness of Beverly Hills. But when she stumbles into the sorriest sorority, Zeta Alpha Zeta, she finds a home where she can finally put her talents to good use. Then when Shelley meets a beau she’d like to tie on for good, she really has something to flirt for and thinks she might have a chance at life on the outside. Now the race is on to make over the girls and make Zeta the hottest house before the University shuts them down. Move in with The House Bunny and laugh your tail off!

Catch it: A thoroughly unexpected product of Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production company, “The House Bunny” is a rare female-driven light entertainment that emphasizes comedy over romance. Although it’s not even as strong as this year’s admittedly hit-and-miss “Baby Mama,” it does serve as a solid showcase for the Goldie Hawn-meets-Jennifer Coolidge charm of Faris and makes a convincing argument that her younger co-stars Emma Stone (“Superbad”) and Kat Dennings (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) deserve vehicles all their own.

Skip it: If you’d rather avoid the mental image conjured up by Shelley admitting, “One time at the mansion I even let Bob Saget grind on me during a slow dance.”

Bottom line: This unholy mash-up of “Legally Blonde,” “Revenge of the Nerds” and E!’s “The Girls Next Door” wants to wallow in chick flick clichés while also inviting boys to ogle a parade of pretty girls. That makes the script’s “pretty on the inside” theme awfully hard to swallow, but director Fred Wolf (“Strange Wilderness”) knows how to keep things perky and pleasant, smoothing over the rough spots with a predictable pop soundtrack heavy on Pussycat Dolls, Avril Lavigne and Rihanna. The result is fittingly brainless late summer fun that will look just at home on DVD a few months from now. Source: Metromix

Box Office: The House Bunny was released in the US on August 22, 2008. It debuted at #1 on its first day of release making $5.91 million, but ultimately landed in second place for its opening weekend, making $14.53 million , behind Ben Stiller's action-comedy film Tropic Thunder, which made $16.27 million. As of March 22, 2009, the film had grossed $70 million worldwide ($48 million domestic and $22 million overseas). The film debuted in the UK chart at #1 grossing almost $1 million in its first weekend.

• Wikipedia: The House Bunny
• Official movie site: The House Bunny
• Watch the trailer below!