The House Bunny (Sony Pictures)
Perfect Casting
Sometimes the casting of a certain actor in a role elevates a movie from ordinary to special. Such is the case with the casting of Anna Farris as The House Bunny. This young woman throws herself into the part and wins over the audience with her humor and her heart. The rest of the movie is pretty routine but Farris performance is anything but ordinary.
Farris plays Shelley Darlingson, a blonde bunny who lives at the Playboy Mansion. She appears to be one of Hugh Hefners favorites but on the day after her twenty-seventh birthday she gets a note from him telling her to vacate the premises. It seems twenty-seven is ancient in bunny years.
Stumbling around the streets of LA she comes upon a sorority house in need of a house mother. Zeta Alpha Zeta needs to get thirty new pledges or they will lose their house. The girls, led by Natalie (Emma Stone) are won over by Shelley who knows all about making the young women more attractive and fun.
The girls of the house include Harmony (American Idol finalist Katherine McPhee), Joanne (Rumer Willis), Carrie Mae (Dana Goodman), Mona (Kat Dennings) and Lilly (Kiely Williams). All of the girls start out plain but get total makeovers thanks to Shelley.
McPhee is satisfactory in her role though it does not require her to stretch as an actress. Still it is good to see her on screen and at the end of the film she has a song over the credits. Heres hoping this kicks off her movie career.
With Farris channeling the sweetest and dumbest Marilyn Monroe image, who better to play her potential boyfriend than Tom Hanks son Colin. Just as Monroe partnered with Tom Ewell in The Seven Year Itch, Farris pairing with Hanks is perfect for the movie.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity, sexual situations and nudity.
Whoever cast Anna Farris in this film should get a bonus based on the films success. She is the right actress for the right role at the right time. Her participation alone lifts this movie out of the ordinary to a level above.
For a fun time at the movies watching an actress do everything just right, go see Anna Farris in The House Bunny.
I scored The House Bunny a hopping 7 out of 10.
