Bruce Bennett Short Bio

Bruce Bennett

Bruce Bennett has been the primary contributor to Mad About Movies since it began in 2003. He is an award winning film and theater critic who, since 2000, has been writing a weekly column in The Spectrum daily newspaper in southern Utah as well as serving as a contributing editor of “The Independent,” a monthly entertainment magazine. He is also the co-host of “Film Fanatics” a movie review show which earned a Telly in 2009. Bruce is also a featured contributor at: RottenTomatoes.com

His motto: "I see bad movies so you don't have to."

House Bunny

Dumbed- down “The Rocker” and “House Bunny” suffer similar fate

Two new comedies, “The Rocker” and “House Bunny,” target the same teen-to-young adult audience, share similar plot themes and fail for similar reasons. Both retread familiar material and lack creative humor, and rely on ill-equipped stars who, despite their best efforts, can’t rescue the very ordinary scripts they are given.
When you are in a theater and most of the audience is laughing consistently and you are not, there’s a good chance you are NOT a member of the target demographic. Few people past their 20s will have any reason to see “House Bunny” starring Anna Faris (the “Scary Movie” series) as a former Playboy playmate who gets kicked out of Hef’s mansion and finds her own redemption as a sorority house mother.

She’s determined to save Zeta Alpha Zeta, which is in desperate need of pledges, but first the ex-bunny must overhaul a motley crew of misfit members. She knows what boys like-gorgeous, skinny bimbos who run around nearly naked. She sets out to educate the girls with help of water bras and lip gloss, and gives every one of them a major makeover. Faris’s Marilyn Monroe-inspired breathy delivery feels forced and gets old fast. Reece Witherspoon’s performance in “Legally Blonde” was glorious by comparison. The lone male character with half a brain (played by Colin Hanks, Tom’s son) is nice but unconvincing. As for the sorority girls, only the scene-stealing Emma Stone (see “The Rocker”) shows any promise.

The film partially works because the film also wants to send a disingenuous but not altogether unworthy “be yourself” message. On the other hand, Hugh Hefner’s presence here also tacitly approves of the brainless, sex-object manner in which his bunnies are represented.

Grade: C-
Rating: PG-13 for sex-related humor, partial nudity and language.

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