Having also seen the ultra-violent Death Race in the same week as The House Bunny I realized one big thing; clichéd violence doesn’t offer any kind of real reaction whereas clichéd humor can still manage to make you laugh as long as the delivery is entertaining and fresh. Sure, the dumb blond jokes in The House Bunny are old and played out, but Anna Faris gives you continuing reason to laugh in a film that is far funnier than it really deserves to be.
The House Bunny plays on the sexy-but-dumb stereotype to the fullest extent and Faris has proven in the past, as a regular in the otherwise awful Scary Movie films, she can pull this off. On top of looking amazing, Faris gives this film every reason to exist. Co-stars Emma Stone, Kat Dennings and the increasingly emaciated Rumer Willis offer up a couple of additional laughs, but it is Faris that leads the charge. She plays right up to the edge of the dumb blond stereotype and only occasionally tosses in one too many clichéd jokes. Nevertheless, you forgive her thanks to a consistent number of chuckles throughout the film.
This isn’t to say this is a classic comedy by any means, but anyone that goes to see House Bunny should walk away with a smile. This isn’t a film to hate, it offers up exactly what the trailers promise and it delivers a little extra with an unexpected f-bomb dropped in the mix and a peek at Faris’s little bum to keep the men paying attention.
Perhaps the one major shock would be Colin Hanks; it seems those Tom Hanks genes aren’t quite paying off just yet. After a decent sized role in Peter Jackson’s King Kong, Hanks has only managed to worm his way into mediocre films at best. Then again, he hasn’t shown anyone any reason to give him anything with more meat on it so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. Katherine McPhee of “American Idol” fame plays a small role in the feature as does Beverly D’Angelo, but both are relatively inconsequential.
The ladies in the audience are more likely to get a kick out of The House Bunny and the fellas dragged to the theater with them should be able to enjoy themselves as well despite the estrogen oozing of the screen. It isn’t like this is a film you should rush out to the theater to see, but you could definitely do worse in your selection.
B-
