This 'Bunny' trips over its own tale

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, August, 2008 | by Carrie Rickey Inquirer Movie Critic

You may not immediately place the names of Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, but the screenwriters are the Shakespeares of American movie comedy.

They achieved this status in part by updating the Bard in  10 Things I Hate About You  (a sprightly rethink of  Taming of the Shrew ) and  She's the Man  ( Twelfth Night ). In between they wrote an original,  Legally Blonde , an effervescent social satire tweaking mean girls and social-climbing boys, exalting tiny dogs and underdogs.

It is with great regret I report that  The House Bunny  is their  Cymbeline . This loopy tale of a playmate booted from the Playboy mansion and hunting for a safe hutch, boasts the patented Lutz/Smith babble, but not the iridescent bubble.

Despite a winning performance by Anna...