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''The House Bunny'' is a 2008 American
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by Fred Wolf, written by Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz, and starring
Anna Faris Anna Kay Faris (; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her work in comedic roles, particularly the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has appeared in a number ...
,
Colin Hanks Colin Lewes Hanks (born November 24, 1977) is an American actor. He has starred in films including '' Orange County'', ''King Kong'', '' The House Bunny'', '' The Great Buck Howard'', and the ''Jumanji'' film series. His television credits includ ...
, and Emma Stone. It tells the story of a former
Playboy bunny A Playboy Bunny is a waitress who works at a Playboy Club and selected through standardized training. Their costumes were made up of lingerie, inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot. This costume consisted of a strapless corset te ...
who signs up to be the " house mother" of an unpopular
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
sorority Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...
after finding out she must leave the
Playboy Mansion The Playboy Mansion, also known as the Playboy Mansion West, is the former home of ''Playboy'' magazine founder Hugh Hefner who lived there from 1974 until his death in 2017. Barbi Benton convinced Hefner to buy the home located in Holmby Hill ...
. The film was released on August 22, 2008. It received mixed reviews, but was a box office success, making $70.4 million on a $25 million budget. The film and its soundtrack have gained a cult following.


Plot

Shelley Darlingson is an aspiring
Playboy Playmate A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Play ...
living the life of luxury in the
Playboy Mansion The Playboy Mansion, also known as the Playboy Mansion West, is the former home of ''Playboy'' magazine founder Hugh Hefner who lived there from 1974 until his death in 2017. Barbi Benton convinced Hefner to buy the home located in Holmby Hill ...
with Hugh Hefner. The day after her 27th birthday, she awakes to find a note, seemingly from Hugh Hefner, asking her to pack up and leave. The note is later revealed to be a forgery by jealous rival Playmate Cassandra. Shelley happens to stumble upon a group of girls who remind her of herself: beautiful and fun. She follows them and sees that they live in luxury too. They turn out to be the Phi Iota Mu
sorority Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...
, and though she is unable to join them because she is not a student, she tries to become a house mother, but the house mothers snobbishly reject her when she tries to join them. Shelley makes her way down to the Zeta Alpha Zeta house, which appears to be far less luxurious than the first sorority she visited. The members of the Zeta house are dowdy, socially awkward, and caught off guard by Shelley's bubbly nature, prompting them to initially reject her. Once they see Shelley's ability to attract boys, the Zetas change their mind and take in Shelley as their new " house mother", hoping that she can save them: their sorority is in danger of being shut down unless they can get thirty new pledges to join. During her time spent with the Zetas, Shelley meets and becomes attracted to an intellectual, altruistic guy named Oliver, who works at a
retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Typically, each person or couple in ...
. Shelley goes out on a date with Oliver and while her flirty tactics work with most guys, they fail with him for he is a guy who actually wants to get to know Shelley rather than just sleep with her. To impress Oliver on their upcoming second date, Shelley starts attending classes and reading books, and tones down her appearance. The second date is also a disaster because she wears glasses that are not meant for her, and brings along note cards to help her sound smart. Having gotten a makeover and lessons on how to attract guys and be popular, the Zetas throw a party, which is a huge success. Later, the Zetas are reviewing the girls who are hoping to pledge to Zeta. However, Lilly, a British Zeta sister with
social anxiety Social anxiety is the anxiety and fear specifically linked to being in social settings (i.e., interacting with others). Some categories of disorders associated with social anxiety include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, autism spectrum disor ...
, reveals how their new popularity has made them conceited, thus forgetting the true value of sisterhood. When they realize what they have become, they blame Shelley—just as she returns from her unsuccessful date. Although Shelley had just been invited back to the Playboy Mansion after Hefner had learned of the forged dismissal and decided to stay with the Zetas, the unexpected attack from them makes her reconsider and she calls back to accept the invitation. The Zetas then feel guilty and decide to give themselves a second makeover, this time being "Half-Shelley and Half-Themselves". They also decide to draw the pledges out at random instead of judging them for their physical looks and popularity. They show up at Shelley's photo shoot and ask for her to come back, to which she agrees, having changed her mind about her dream of being a centerfold. The rival Phi Iota Mu sorority intercepts the invitations and prevents them from being mailed out, so the Zetas are again in danger of being shut down at the campus meeting of the
Panhellenic Council The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella organization for 26 (inter)national women's sororities throughout the United States and Canada. Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society of college women and alum ...
. Shelley crashes the meeting and gives a heartfelt speech about what her experience with the Zetas has taught her about love and acceptance and asks for pledges on the spot; gradually thirty students agree to pledge, and the sorority is saved. Oliver and Shelley reconcile, and Shelley explains that she likes Oliver a lot and was trying too hard to impress him. They decide to start over with their relationship and Oliver is looking forward to getting to know the "real" Shelley. The film ends with the Zetas and their new pledges celebrating. Shelley has remained in close contact with Hefner and her friends at the Playboy Mansion.


Cast


Production

Anna Faris Anna Kay Faris (; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her work in comedic roles, particularly the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has appeared in a number ...
originally pitched the idea of a Playboy bunny kicked out of the mansion to screenwriters Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith. In Faris' initial pitch, the story had a darker tone and revolved around a Playboy model returning to the midwest and falling into drugs. A few months later, the screenwriters combined it with an idea they'd had about a mismatched sorority house and house mother. The line "eyes are the nipples of the face" is, to the writers, "one of our proudest accomplishments, which really shows you how weird our job is." The trio eventually landed a meeting with Adam Sandler's company,
Happy Madison Productions Happy Madison Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 1999 by Adam Sandler, which is best known for its comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films ''Happy Gilmore'' and ''Billy Madison'', two b ...
, when a producer got wind of their idea. Sandler, who had previously worked with Faris on ''
The Hot Chick ''The Hot Chick'' is a 2002 American comedy film written and directed by Tom Brady, with additional writing by Rob Schneider. Schneider stars as Clive Maxtone, a middle-aged criminal who switches bodies with mean-spirited cheerleader Jessica Spe ...
'', liked the story and signed on to develop the film, making it the first female-driven movie produced by his company. The
working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...
of the film was ''I Know What Boys Like''. The film was shot over the summer of 2007. Faris had a nude scene originally meant to be filmed with a body double, but she decided to do the scene herself. Faris and Hanks were later reunited in Faris' show '' Mom''.


Reception


Critical reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
''The House Bunny'' has an approval rating of 43% based on 125 reviews, with an average rating of 5.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Anna Faris is game, but she can't salvage this middling, formulaic comedy." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''s John Anderson stated the film is a "Blissfully broad comedy that should catapult Anna Faris into a singular kind of stardom." Nathan Lee of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote the film "puts a cheerful spin on its many clichés", and "this particular wheel hasn’t been reinvented, but at least it gets a nice fresh coat of bubblegum-pink paint and a star to pilot it with aplomb."


Box office

On August 22, 2008, ''The House Bunny'' was released in the US. 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 Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...
's action-comedy film ''
Tropic Thunder ''Tropic Thunder'' is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a ...
'', which made $16.2 million. The film grossed $70 million worldwide ($48 million in North America and $22 million internationally). The film debuted in the UK chart at #1 grossing almost $1 million in its first weekend.


Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 19, 2008. It was also released in a 6-movie collection called ''The Laugh Out Loud Collection'' with other Happy Madison films in 2013.


Music

Though a
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
was not released, a single was released to iTunes on July 16, 2008. The single was a cover of
The Waitresses The Waitresses were an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, best known for their singles " I Know What Boys Like" and " Christmas Wrapping." They released two albums, ''Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?'' and '' Bruiseology'', and two EPs, '' I Co ...
song, "I Know What Boys Like" (produced by
Chad Hugo Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. With close friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has prod ...
of
The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos ...
) as performed by
Katharine McPhee Katharine Hope McPhee (born March 25, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. In May 2006, she rose to fame as the runner-up on the fifth season of ''American Idol.'' Her eponymous debut album was released on RCA Records on Janua ...
(featuring
Kat Dennings Katherine Victoria Litwack (born June 13, 1986), known professionally as Kat Dennings, is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Max Black in the CBS sitcom ''2 Broke Girls'' (2011–2017) and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel ...
, Emma Stone, and
Rumer Willis Rumer Glenn Willis (born August 16, 1988) is an American actress. She is the eldest daughter of actor Bruce Willis and actress Demi Moore. She has appeared in films ''Hostage'' (2005), '' The House Bunny'' (2008), '' Sorority Row'' (2009) and ''O ...
) and including lyrics about the Zeta sisters. The trailers for the film included the songs "
U + Ur Hand "U + Ur Hand" is a song by American pop singer Pink. It was lined up as the third single from her fourth studio album '' I'm Not Dead'' (2006). It was released on August 28, 2006, and ignited controversy due to its explicit lyrical content and st ...
" by
P!nk Alecia Beth Moore Hart (born September 8, 1979), known professionally as Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She was originally a member of the girl group Choice. In 1995, LaFace Records saw potential ...
and "
Do It Well "Do It Well" (also known as "Doin' It Well") is a song recorded by American singer Jennifer Lopez for her sixth studio album, ''Brave (Jennifer Lopez album), Brave'' (2007). It was written by Ryan Tedder, Leonard Caston, Jr., Leonard Caston, Ani ...
" by Jennifer Lopez. The film also featured songs by artists including: *
Bow Wow Wow Bow Wow Wow are an English new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band behind 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on vocals. They released their debut EP '' Your Cassette ...
– "
I Want Candy "I Want Candy" is a song written and originally recorded by the Strangeloves in 1965 that reached No. 11 in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It is a famous example of a song that uses the Bo Diddley beat. Original version "I Want Candy" ...
" *
The All-American Rejects The All-American Rejects is an American rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, formed in 1999.I Wanna" *
Altered Images Altered Images are a Scottish new wave/post-punk band who found success in the early 1980s. Fronted by singer Clare Grogan, the group branched into mainstream pop music, having six UK top-40 hit singles and three top-30 albums from 1981 to 1 ...
– " Happy Birthday" * Madonna – " Like a Virgin" * Rihanna – " Take a Bow" *
The Pussycat Dolls The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the burlesque troupe ...
– " When I Grow Up" *
Ashlee Simpson Ashley Nicolle Ross ( Simpson; born October 3, 1984), known professionally as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer and actress. The younger sister of singer and actress Jessica Simpson, she began her career as a back-up dancer for her sister ...
– "Boys" *
Metro Station A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase Train ticket, tickets, board trains, and Emergency eva ...
– "
Shake It "Shake It" is a song by American pop band Metro Station, released as the third single (and debut British single) from the group's 2007 self-titled debut studio album. "Shake It" was the band's first charting single, peaking at number 10 on the ...
" *
DJ Colette Colette Marino (born May 27, 1975, in Chicago, Illinois), known as DJ Colette or simply as Colette, is a house music DJ and vocalist from Chicago, Illinois. She is a resident DJ at the SmartBar in Chicago, Illinois (along with Kaskade and others ...
– "Think You Want It" produced by
Tim K Tim K, born Timothy John Kvasnosky, is a Los Angeles-based music producer and film composer who was born in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Tim K composed the score (along with collaborator Jake Shears of the Scissor Sist ...
*
The Cab The Cab is an American rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. Their debut album, ''Whisper War'', was released on April 29, 2008. They have been called "The Band You Need to Know 2008" by '' Alternative Press'' magazine. They were also featured in t ...
– "I'll Run" *
Elizaveta Elizaveta is a village in the municipality of Bălți in the north of Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west ...
– "Like Water" *
Yael Naim Yael Naim ( he, יעל נעים, born 6 February 1978) is a French-born Israeli singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2008 in the US after her hit single " New Soul" was used by Apple in an advertising campaign for its MacBook Air. The song pe ...
– " New Soul" *
The Kills The Kills are an English-American rock duo formed by American singer Alison "VV" Mosshart and English guitarist Jamie "Hotel" Hince. They are signed to Domino Records. Their first four albums, '' Keep On Your Mean Side'', ''No Wow'', ''Midni ...
– "Sour Cherry" *
Boys Like Girls Boys Like Girls is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2005, the group gained mainstream recognition when it released its self-titled debut album which went on to sell over 700,000 albums in the United States earning a ...
– " The Great Escape" *
The Ting Tings The Ting Tings are an English indie pop duo from Salford, Greater Manchester formed in 2007. The band consists of Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drums, bass guitar, cowbells) and Jules De Martino (drums, lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards ...
– "
Great DJ "Great DJ" is the second single by English indie pop band the Ting Tings. Vocalist Katie White states that the song was written by "playing a D chord on the guitar for hours, because that's all I could play. And then I put my finger on the wrong ...
" and "
Shut Up and Let Me Go "Shut Up and Let Me Go" is the fourth single from English musical duo the Ting Tings' debut studio album, ''We Started Nothing'' (2008). The song was released in the United Kingdom on 21 July 2008, and was the follow-up to the number one hit sin ...
" *
Ingrid Michaelson Ingrid Ellen Michaelson (born December 8, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Her first album, '' Slow the Rain,'' was released in 2005, and she has since released eight more albums: '' Girls and Boys,'' '' Be OK'', '' Everybody' ...
– " Be OK" *
Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...
– "
Girlfriend A girlfriend is a female friend, acquaintance or partner, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed relationship where the in ...
" * Mercedes – Better Than a Psychic


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:House Bunny, The 2008 films 2000s buddy films 2008 romantic comedy films 2000s teen comedy films 2000s teen romance films Alta Loma Entertainment films American female buddy films American romantic comedy films American teen comedy films American teen romance films Columbia Pictures films 2000s English-language films Films about fraternities and sororities Films directed by Fred Wolf Films produced by Adam Sandler Films produced by Allen Covert Happy Madison Productions films Films set in country houses Films set in Wyoming Relativity Media films Films about Playboy 2000s female buddy films 2000s American films