The Red and Black

Issue date: 8/28/08 Section: Out & About

'The House Bunny' fails to pass off as a convincing tale of improved self-esteem. [Click to enlarge]

Though "The House Bunny" banks on its star, Anna Faris, her comedic brilliance alone could not save the film from a death more inevitable than that of a chocolate Easter bunny.

In the movie, at the ripe age of 27, Playboy Playmate Shelley (Faris) is too old for the Mansion and must fend for herself in a fully-clad world.

Discovering another "mansion" on a college campus, Shelley situates herself as a sorority house mother for a group of outcast girls.

The thrill of Faris' cuteness fades quickly, and she becomes a chore to watch.

Faris nails the "ditzy blonde" role, save a few moments where she goes out of character.

Instead of drawing laughs by being a beautiful airhead, Faris starts to drift back into the weird and slightly schizophrenic comedy that seems to be right in her comfort zone.

A prime example of her switch from cute to creepy occurs when Faris changes her voice to a masculine growl in order to remember the names of the girls she is trying to save from lives of rejection.

Popularity is so important in this film that the girls are willing to allow this sometimes scary woman to live in their house so they can learn to put on makeup and impress boys.

Although the movie attempts to find a happy medium between the importance of being well-liked and being yourself, it actually implies that with a little bit of mascara and a good dye-job, every woman could have a Barbie dream life.

The stereotypes the movie ridicules are reinforced in the ending, when the girls change themselves to be cool, but we're expected to believe they stayed genuine.

Unfortunately, this resolution is more of a "do as I say, not as I do" situation added to superficially appease the audience.

As a whole, the movie was cute, but kind of made me lose faith in humanity.

Will people really believe that beauty and popularity are the keys to happiness?

I pity the person who takes anything from this film as a life lesson.

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