Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

Starring: Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris, Ryan Reynolds, Ethan Embry, Fred Willard, Paula Garces, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Anthony Anderson, Siv Ta, Malin Akerman, Jamie Kennedy
Directed by: Danny Leiner
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2004

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Two best friends (Kal Penn, John Cho) smoke some weed and then realize they're hungry. They start off on a trip to White Castle, but seemingly everything gets in their way.

Review:

Tim: I'm actually really surprised that I enjoyed Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. On the surface, the film sounds pretty stupid. It's about two pot smoking friends who get the munchies and try to drive to White Castle. Along the way, they go through a series of adventures and missteps, all preventing them from getting those delicious little burgers. It just sounds dumb. However, the movie is surprisingly funny, well directed, and has the right balance between raunchy and sweet. This is a really funny movie.

I love the two main characters. Kal Penn and John Cho are both very talented young actors, and I loved their pairing. There's quite a few racial jokes both towards Indians and Asians. In so many other films, the two main characters of this movie would have been white. This is a small change, but it makes a huge difference. It helps that both actors are charismatic and funny. They work well together. This is so critical to the film's success. Two other actors in these parts, and this movie might have failed miserably. Luckily, they got two good actors for these roles.

What really works is that we get established with these characters early on, and then sit back and enjoy the crazy, unexpected misadventures they find themselves in. There's just so many that it's hard to talk about them all. I will say that Neil Patrick Harris' presence and role was so shocking and unexpected that it really made the movie for me. I loved him in this film and it really made me laugh. Is that the guy from Doogie Howser? That was hilarious.

There's just so many odd little adventures the two find themselves in. While they aren't always funny (sometimes the jokes just don't connect), they are always entertaining and surprising. The moves along at a quick pace, throwing our protagonists into one funny situation after another. I also love that the quest in this film- it's holy grail, is White Castle. Somehow, that's the perfect end destination for a silly movie like this. I don't know about the rest of you, but White Castle is pretty nasty. The burgers have their appeal, but they're cheap, flimsy, and overall, fairly unappetizing. It was so humorous to watch Harold and Kumar go to incredible lengths and risk everything to taste those stupid little burgers.

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle was surprisingly funny. I really enjoyed the main characters and following them on their silly odyssey. This is a movie that could have been made a 100 times, and 99 of them would have failed. This film hits the right notes, and keeps us entertained throughout. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanimo Bay, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas