Movie Review: Harold and Kumar go to White Castle
Harold and Kumar go to White Castle is an amazing proof that you don't always get what you expect in the movie business. Just about everything about this movie is tired and overdone, and yet somehow it still just works.
Not only do you have a stoner-comedy in which the goal is "the munchies", you also have an unlikely duo involved in a stream of sight-gags which have already been done so many times that you can almost see them coming, yet amazingly you're laughing yourself into an asthma attack anyway.
At least I was.
I'm not going to pretend this movie's for everyone, and it's definitely not. You really have to be into crass, low-IQ American comedy to enjoy it. If you're expecting some dramatic masterpiece, or any intellectual level of character development (although there is some in "Harold and Kumar"), or if your preference is subtle British comedy for instance, then I really doubt your chances of enjoying this movie.
It's in a similar vein to movies such as "Dude, Where's my Car?", as well as I couldn't help but draw comparisons to the pair "Cheech and Chong". The refreshing part is, the pair in this flick are actually intelligent. They break the mould of the typical stoners who are moronic, unemployed college dropouts - and they do it convincingly.
Harold Lee (John Cho, who once you reckognize him has memorable short roles in the various American Pie flicks) is a Korean-American Investment Banker, who is taken advantage of by co-workers, playing upon the stereotype that Asians love numbers. He also happens to have a fixation with a woman in his appartment building (Paula Garcés, Dangerous Minds), but lacks the ability to approach her.
Kumar Patel (Kal Penn, most memorable in my mind for his role in Van Wilder) is a medically gifted Indian (stereotypes ahoy) who has absolutely no interest in attending medical school, and incredibly surprising given Harold's incessant neatness, Kumar is a slob.
The pair, despite both being college graduates and being quite gifted intellectually, enjoy nothing more than sitting around getting baked, and then loading up on whatever food they desire (they just happen to have a giant handful of delivery place menus handy). A "White Castle" commercial, as if placed there perfectly by the hand of [insert deity here], leaves them both pining for a score of miniature hamburgers of questionable quality.
They set out on their quest, which from one upset to another leads them on an hour-long (viewing time) journey to find a White Castle restaraunt. Obstacles standing in their way are corporate business transfers, excellent characitures of "extreme sports fanatics", Newark, wildlife, an inbred towtruck driver, and Princeton University.
As I said in the beginning, if you're not really into this type of comedy, you probably won't enjoy this movie despite how well it breaks through the pack. If you do enjoy this comedy, you will probably see most of the jokes coming a mile a way - but it really doesn't matter. In our household, we've watched this movie too many times to count, and we laugh equally as hard as we did the first time we watched it - every time.
If you have the same sense of humour as me, don't worry about whether you will enjoy it enough to get the money's worth out of it - you will watch it enough times to compensate. I would definitely pick this up on Amazon if you get a chance, or at least rent it.