by Thomas Ferguson

Stupid is as stupid does. If you want to find stupid people look no further than the new comedy The House Bunny. Actually, just watching it lowered my I.Q. several points. Sadly, I got the jokes and laughed out loud several times. What does that say about me?

Shelly (Anna Faris) is a lovable, but simple Playboy Bunny who gets kicked out of the mansion for “age issues”. With nowhere to go, she ends up on a local college campus and makes a bid to become the house mother for a sorority of social misfits. The unpopular students will loose their charter if no one pledges. Shelly uses her unique skills to transform the plain girls into sex kittens to attract boys which in turn will make other girls interested in pledging their sorority. Shelly charms everyone with her big smile and huge…personality. Everyone except Oliver (Colin Hanks- Yes, Tom’s son) a socially conscience student who looks for substance in girls. Now, Shelly must use her brain to win the guy, not her body.

This movie started off badly with stale jokes and uninteresting set up. Every cliché you could think of was present. Every character archetype imaginable was on screen. It was like watching a female version of Revenge of the Nerds.

It’s because of the unoriginal script that I can’t fully recommend this movie. That’s truly a shame because I laughed at many of the jokes. Faris is a true comedienne who entertains on every level. She is good with the physical comedy as well as verbal.

There was a feeling of Legally Blonde here, but The House Bunny was nowhere close to being as smart as that classic comedy.

Overall, this was a fun movie, but took too long to find its way out of Clichéville.