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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 10/14/2008 : 12:41:07
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The House Bunny
It's a two dynasty movie! Tom Hanks' kid Colin plays the intelligent love interest, and Bruce Willis & Demi Moore's daughter Rumer is a sorority girl in a back brace.
But the star is Anna Faris. Unlike her orphaned blip-head character Shelley, Faris graduated from The University of Washington, and her mom wrote her bio on imdb. Ahhh! In her lady-version of this Adam Sandleresque bimbette, she does carry the film. Sandler, if you couldn't tell from some of the visual gags, was one of the Exec Producers and his Happy Madison company gets a cut of the gross.
Speaking of gross - it sometimes is, but is somewhat redeemed - not least by Faris's ability to project positive energy even as life squirts its pearl necklace around her face. Like Sandler's Chuck and Larry and Zohan - there are some decent ruminations at the end. It's just that, to get there, you've got to wade through some distilled waters composed of equal parts of farts and flowers.
You've prob'ly seen the trailers so I don't think it's giving anything away to say bouncy blond Shelley is told to leave The Playboy mansion where she's been a bunny because at 27 she's too old. There's something [deliberately] wrong with that scenario, and what's wrong is the McGuffin that whisks us into the real meat of the film.
Which is Shelley winding up as a House Mother to Zeta, a dingy, failing sorority house full of mis-fits. They've been told if they don't achieve 30 new pledges by the deadline, their house will be taken away. They'll be as homeless as Shelley. Their competition comes from Evil Central Casting in the form of ex-model Sarah Wright as Ashley, Head Honchette of a rival sorority whose more conventional House Mother Beverly d'Angelo is Evil Queen to her preppy-Princess. It's snob city.
Which answers the question, whatever happened to Beverly d'Angelo, a very talented actress whose career never fulfilled its early promise. So she's absolutely fine in this bitchy cameo.
There really ain't much of a plot. Will these losers let sunny-Bunny teach them her tricks to attract men and thereby prove their sorority irresistible to new pledges. On the theory that a sorority house full of visiting beefcake is just the place for a university lady to park her carcass. Shelley's technique goes something like this:
She squeezes a guy's upper arm. Looks him straight in the eye and says, "Your muscles are so big. Kiss me."
You won't believe the handful of caricatures Shelley starts mothering. Every cliche of super-shy, overalled lesbo, bespectacled Ms Malaprop - even the prettiest one is extremely pregnant. Shelley tarts them up good, so her plan is well on the way.
Except for a couple of loose ends. One being that Hanks kid - here as the manager of a senior citizen's care home with whom Shelley wants a real relationship. She just keeps jeopardizing it with her Bunny ways.
And of course there's the Evil Rival Sorority - creating mayhem right up to the last moment in their determination to rid the campus of all things Zeta.
And, finally, there's the Hugh Hefner thing. This film is prob'ly more publicity than he's received in the past decade. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he waaaaay past 27?!
PS - I think I heard right some bg lyrics that went: I love my Zeta. Which sounds like I love my Zeyda - which means I love my grandfather in Yiddish. Oy, that Sandler!
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Edited by - BaftaBaby on 10/14/2008 17:06:32 |
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ChocolateLady 
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 10/15/2008 : 13:59:19
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| Thanks. This sounds perfectly horrid. |
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Salopian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 10/17/2008 : 01:16:03
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So, so derivative, it's almost impossible to bear. Had it come along in the 1980s it would have been just about all right.
How is Oliver old enough to be managing a nursing home?!
A high 1/5 or very low 2/5 (in that it's certainly much better than Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie). |
Edited by - Salopian on 10/17/2008 01:17:38 |
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MisterBadIdea 
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 10/19/2008 : 22:31:53
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Currently this is my pick for worst movie of the year. Rarely have I seen a film that inflicted as much physical pain on me. It demonstrates no understanding of college, sororities, nerd girls, pornography or anything at all. It's demonstrably sexist women, suggesting that the nerd girls (even the angry feminist one) have a lot to learn from vapid sluts, and instantly sell themselves out to popularity. I don't mind that they turn hot just by taking off their glasses (although one clearly hot girl's only deformity is that she's pregnant. If this is supposed to be the loser virgin sorority why is she pregnant??). What I do mind is that it completely misunderstands the geek girl mindset.
See, here's how it works: Nerd girls, particularly the cute ones like in this movie, have NO TROUBLE WHATSOEVER finding guys. They go to nerd groups like Anime Club or whatever, where their mix of brains and approachability attracts legions of nerd boys who follow them around like puppies. Nerd girls don't usually crush on preppie guys, and they certainly don't join sororities; even the unpopular sororities are filled with unpopular sorority girls, not unpopular nerds. I've never heard of bullying or high school clique behavior in colleges.
Oh, and let's not forget how being a nude model is just like being at a big party all the time! Who wouldn't to work in porn for the rest of their lives? |
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silly 
"That rabbit's DYNAMITE."
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Posted - 10/20/2008 : 14:37:56
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Sounds like I may need to watch this, just to forget "Fly Me to the Moon."
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Airbolt 
"teil mann, teil maschine"
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Posted - 10/20/2008 : 15:14:45
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quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
Currently this is my pick for worst movie of the year. Rarely have I seen a film that inflicted as much physical pain on me. It demonstrates no understanding of college, sororities, nerd girls, pornography or anything at all. It's demonstrably sexist women, suggesting that the nerd girls (even the angry feminist one) have a lot to learn from vapid sluts, and instantly sell themselves out to popularity. I don't mind that they turn hot just by taking off their glasses (although one clearly hot girl's only deformity is that she's pregnant. If this is supposed to be the loser virgin sorority why is she pregnant??). What I do mind is that it completely misunderstands the geek girl mindset.
See, here's how it works: Nerd girls, particularly the cute ones like in this movie, have NO TROUBLE WHATSOEVER finding guys. They go to nerd groups like Anime Club or whatever, where their mix of brains and approachability attracts legions of nerd boys who follow them around like puppies. Nerd girls don't usually crush on preppie guys, and they certainly don't join sororities; even the unpopular sororities are filled with unpopular sorority girls, not unpopular nerds. I've never heard of bullying or high school clique behavior in colleges.
Oh, and let's not forget how being a nude model is just like being at a big party all the time! Who wouldn't to work in porn for the rest of their lives?
Next thing you'll be saying is that High School Kids aren't all clean-cut dancers who burst into song at a moment's notice! |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 01/13/2009 : 12:19:40
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Derivative, REVENGE OF THE NERDS for girls, etc., yes, all that.
But Anna Faris was a hoot all the way through. She saved the movie for me.
I kinda wished there was nobody else in the flick. I loved her vacant take on the dumb blonde. I'd love to see this expert farceur in a more serious role...could she be the Goldie Hawn of the Naughts? |
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The House Bunny
