If you prefer a bit of mainstream froth, hop along to The House Bunny, where determined Anna Faris, star of the Scary Movie franchise, breathes life into a decrepit Hollywood formula.
Faris plays Shelley, a Playboy bunny and resident of the notorious Hugh Hefner mansion. On the morning after her 27th birthday party she receives a letter curtly informing her that she is now too old and must leave.
Unfairly ousted, Shelley blunders her way into becoming a “House Bunny” in a terminally unpopular college sorority, filled with freaks, geeks and anti-socialites. Cue make-overs, house parties and Hollywood’s version of female empowerment.
The House Bunny provides plenty of limp jokes, superficial characterisation and a reasonable love interest for our leading lady in the form of Colin Hanks. However, as empty as the film may be Faris fills the screen with her energetic and consistent scene stealing performance. The filmmakers, who also wrote Legally Blonde, clearly have a specific style when it comes to the casting of their female leads.
Don’t be too surprised if Faris does a ‘Reese Witherspoon’ on us and this time next year appears in a role which involves breaking out of the sickly rom-com mould and landing on the path to Oscar winning stardom. Here’s hoping Anna!
