“The House Bunny” proves you can improve on a good thing

This is the role that Anna Faris has been waiting for. A talented comic actress who has been biding her time in the “Scary Movie” series and inconsequential guest roles in other stars’ films. She is allowed to come into her own in this production. Faris relishes the spotlight in this rags to riches to rags tale. The playboy bunny meets geeky girl sorority concept is inspired and incredibly well presented. While this Happy Madison production (Adam Sandler’s company) is formulaic, it goes to show that the Sandler formula for comedy still has plenty of life left in it.

Faris is Shelley Darlingson, a girl who grew up without a true family. She blossomed as she got older and her beauty took her to a magical place - the Playboy Mansion. She misunderstands much of what is happening around her but she’s also a peacemaker among the playmates. After her 27th birthday she is evicted from the only home she’s ever known. She wanders the streets looking for a new place to belong and stumbles into a college sorority. The popular sororities already have house mothers - older women who watch over the co-eds - but one sorority desperately needs one. This sorority has only a few girls, who are ostracized by their peers because they are shy, handicapped, tom-boyish, or just plain geeky. The sorority will lose its funding unless it can get enough pledges, something Shelley is convinced she can do.

Faris is absolutely fabulous as the ditzy but well-intentioned model. Her comic timing is impeccable throughout, as she consistently hops from one funny moment to the next. Her ability to lower her voice to a monstrous grumble - a quirk to remember peoples names - needs to be heard to be fully appreciated. The cast of geeky girls are easily likeable, from the outgoing, nerdy Natalie (Emma Stone; “Superbad”) to the tough tomboy Mona (Kat Dennings; “Charlie Bartlett”), and the sweet girl with the back brace, Joanne (Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce). This group of outcasts fit together like lego blocks, creating some priceless comic moments from their forced social interactions. Faris’s addition to this medley of girls creates comic nirvana, as she teaches them to be sexy to attract boys as well as new recruits.

Shelley falls for an intelligent, poised nursing home manager called Oliver (Colin Hanks; “Untraceable”). His character is nothing more than an excuse for Shelley to learn she can’t seduce every male with her bag of tricks. Her sorority sisters teach her to add substance to her already sparkling personality, if she wants to win the heart of this guy. Add to this mix, enmity between sorority houses, as the leader of one house tries to undermine the burgeoning popularity of Shelley’s house. There is even a “Sandler” finale, where a showdown within a public forum may save the day. “The House Bunny” is a feel good film, that shows audiences you can improve on a good thing.

Rated PG-13 for sex-related humor, partial nudity and brief strong language.