After junior analyst Harold Lee (John Cho) and pre-med slacker Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) get stoned in their Hoboken apartment, the two see a White Castle commercial on television and immediately develop an intense craving for the fast food chain's signature sliders. Upon learning that the closest White Castle has closed down, they embark on a hunger-fueled odyssey across New Jersey. The low-brow adventure brings them through a violent Newark, a party-infested Princeton, and various other side quests as they travel in search of delicious hamburgers.
This is the plot of the aptly titled "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle," a buddy-comedy that is gross, outrageous, and laugh-out-loud funny. Writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg craft some very quotable dialogue and clever jokes in the screenplay, and who better to bring this stoner story to life than "Dude Where's My Car?" director Danny Leiner?
Above everyone else, it is Cho and Penn as the titular duo that make this movie so special. An odd couple for the modern era, Harold is an uptight and overworked straight man, while Penn is a genius who prefers partying to applying to med school. Although the two have their differences, their friendship is endearing and believable. Rather than having either character be the "cool one," they both face condescension from the people that fill their equally average lives. The fact that they are minorities living in New Jersey is not lost on the film either. Harold and Kumar both combat racism, but rather than making racism the butt of the joke, the movie places the casual racists as obnoxious and abusive while maintaining the main characters' rationally annoyed perspectives.
Ultimately, Harold and Kumar are relatable - ordinary people making an ordinary fast food run that gradually turns extraordinary. By the film's third act, the protagonists have undergone high speed chases, car accidents, a battle with a racoon, and an encounter with a disfigured Christian zealot in the woods. Later, they inexplicably pick up a hitchhiking Neil Patrick Harris (played by himself), who highjacks their car to go on a drug infused, horny bender. Oh, and they also impersonate doctors, break out of jail, and smoke marajuana with a cheetah in the forest.
It is hard to imagine all of that happening in a single film, but "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle" fluidly offers one absurd episode after another with uncompromised pacing. It has the cult qualities of "The Big Lebowski" with the general comedic appeal of "American Pie." Admittedly, movie probably appeals to male potheads the most and to Academy members the least, but judged against other raunchy comedies circa 2004, it surely stands out. Given today's call for more movies focused on non-white characters, I wouldn't be surprised to see Harold and Kumar make a comeback. In an odd way, they were ahead of their time.
This is the plot of the aptly titled "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle," a buddy-comedy that is gross, outrageous, and laugh-out-loud funny. Writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg craft some very quotable dialogue and clever jokes in the screenplay, and who better to bring this stoner story to life than "Dude Where's My Car?" director Danny Leiner?
Above everyone else, it is Cho and Penn as the titular duo that make this movie so special. An odd couple for the modern era, Harold is an uptight and overworked straight man, while Penn is a genius who prefers partying to applying to med school. Although the two have their differences, their friendship is endearing and believable. Rather than having either character be the "cool one," they both face condescension from the people that fill their equally average lives. The fact that they are minorities living in New Jersey is not lost on the film either. Harold and Kumar both combat racism, but rather than making racism the butt of the joke, the movie places the casual racists as obnoxious and abusive while maintaining the main characters' rationally annoyed perspectives.
Ultimately, Harold and Kumar are relatable - ordinary people making an ordinary fast food run that gradually turns extraordinary. By the film's third act, the protagonists have undergone high speed chases, car accidents, a battle with a racoon, and an encounter with a disfigured Christian zealot in the woods. Later, they inexplicably pick up a hitchhiking Neil Patrick Harris (played by himself), who highjacks their car to go on a drug infused, horny bender. Oh, and they also impersonate doctors, break out of jail, and smoke marajuana with a cheetah in the forest.
It is hard to imagine all of that happening in a single film, but "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle" fluidly offers one absurd episode after another with uncompromised pacing. It has the cult qualities of "The Big Lebowski" with the general comedic appeal of "American Pie." Admittedly, movie probably appeals to male potheads the most and to Academy members the least, but judged against other raunchy comedies circa 2004, it surely stands out. Given today's call for more movies focused on non-white characters, I wouldn't be surprised to see Harold and Kumar make a comeback. In an odd way, they were ahead of their time.