Typically, fraternities and sororities depicted in movies are full of beautiful people with rich parents and attitudes to match. About 20 years ago, the fictional nerdy brothers of Lambda Lambda Lambda changed this cinematic norm in “Revenge of the Nerds” by defeating the more popular Alpha Beta. Now it’s the ladies’ turn.

In “The House Bunny,” orphan Shelley (Anna Faris) is adopted into the Playboy family as one of Hugh Hefner’s Bunnies. However, her fairy tale comes to an end when she is kicked out of the mansion after her 27th birthday — which is “59 in Bunny years.” After unsuccessfully trying to live in her car, Shelley discovers a row of sorority houses, excited to find that “they look like little mansions.” Though she can’t technically join a sorority because she’s not a college student, she can become a housemother — a Greek-life chaperone who lives in the house. The only sorority sisters willing to host her are the misfits of Zeta, a group of seven atypical sorority girls who must forfeit their house and Greek status if they don’t recruit 30 new pledges by rush.

After the initial meet and greet with sisters Natalie (Emma Stone), Mona (Kat Dennings), Joanne (Rumer Willis), Lilly (Kiely Williams) and the others, Shelley begins a quest to make Zeta the hottest sorority on campus. She organizes car washes for charity, teaches the girls the merits of makeup and water bras and ultimately learns intelligence isn’t necessarily a negative trait.

Faris plays the numb sexpot well, struggling to pronounce “philanthropy” and confessing that she would vote for whomever Paula and Randy endorse — confusing the presidential race with “American Idol.” She knows nothing more than looking good and partying, and almost everything she owns is pink.  Shelley’s more intelligent moments include learning peoples’ names by repeating them in a voice straight out of “The Exorcist.” But Faris’ physical comedy is out in full force.

The Zeta sisters are believable, too. After playing cool-girl Jules in “Superbad,” Stone plays a convincing outcast. Dennings’ Mona is the pierced feminist, staunchly opposing the objectification of her sisterhood. Willis’ Joanne is sweetly innocent and Dana Goodman is hilarious as the unkempt Carrie Mae. Perhaps most surprising are “American Idol” alum Katharine McPhee as the very pregnant sorority sister Harmony, and All-American Rejects front man Tyson Ritter as Colby, one of the sister’s love interest. Colin Hanks is also great as Oliver, the anti-frat boy. Hugh Hefner has a running cameo, as do his girlfriends, Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson of “The Girls Next Door.”

The only downside is that the movie doesn’t break much ground plot-wise — it seems as though the writers mixed equal parts “Revenge of the Nerds” and “Legally Blonde” to make a bubbly pink fizz, topping it with a feel-good movie umbrella. It also takes iconic moments from other films, shamelessly spoofing “Forrest Gump” when Joanne’s body brace falls off as she runs down the street.

“The House Bunny” is a silly end-of-summer movie that gets its laughs from stupid misunderstandings, slapstick humor and quirky background characters. While the film was not a groundbreaking addition to the world of comedy, it is still a funny and enjoyable flick.

“The House Bunny” was written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and directed by Fred Wolf.