Movie Review x2: Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2003)/Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (2008) - Written by Fred [The Wolf]

DIRECTED BY
Danny Leiner (GTWC) & Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (EFGB)

STARRING
John Cho - Harold Lee
Kal Penn - Kumar Patel
Paula Garces - Maria
Neil Patrick Harris - Neil Patrick Harris
David Krumholtz - Goldstein
Eddie Kaye Thomas - Rosenberg
Christopher Meloni - Freakshow (GTWC) & KKK Grand Wizard (EFGB)
Ethan Embry - Billy Carver (GTWC)
Rob Corddry - Ron Fox (EFGB)
Danneel Harris - Vanessa (EFGB)
Eric Winter - Colton (EFGB)

GTWC - 4 Howls Outta 4
EFGB - 3.5 Howls Outta 4


Stoner comedies have become a beloved sub-genre in the film world of comedy. Ever since Cheech & Chong made being high not only cool, but funny as hell, other filmmakers have followed suit with their own stories of being under the influence of narcotics. Films like THE BIG LEBOWSKI, GRANDMA'S BOY, HALF BAKED, and DAZED AND CONFUSED have showcased the spectacle that is being a pot smoker, bringing laughs to those who know exactly what it feels like and to others who don't. And even though we still live in a very conservative time in our society, a certain stoner comedy has managed to capture the heart of many: HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE. While it wasn't a big success at the box office during 2005, it managed to gain a huge following on cable and especially on DVD. Harold and Kumar became the poster children for pot smokers everywhere with their wacky road trips and getting the girl at the end. The popularity of WHITE CASTLE led to the 2008 sequel, HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY. While the films will never win any Academy Awards or much love from uptight critics, the public loves these films and they both deserve a worthy spot on any "Top Stoner Films Ever Made" list.

PLOT
In HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE, Harold (John Cho) is an uptight corporate analyst who is pretty much used by his superiors and is infatuated with his beautiful neighbor Maria (Paula Garces). He lives with his best friend, Kumar (Kal Penn), who attempts to ruin any chance of going to med school to maintain a life of being a freeloader and slacker. One Friday night, Harold is given a ton of work to do by Billy Carver (Ethan Embry), who wants to party instead of work the entire weekend. Harold's problem ruins his and Kumar's plans of just lounging at their place and getting baked. The two do eventually begin to smoking the sweet leaf while watching television, spotting a commercial for White Castle burgers. Wanting to satisfy their cravings, Harold and Kumar decide to travel towards the nearest White Castle, which is many miles away. However, they get involved in crazy situations along the way, such as riding a cheetah, dealing with racist cops, hot British chicks with bowel problems, some mutant-looking tow truck driver, and a stoned and horny Neil Patrick Harris.

In HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE GUANTANAMO BAY, Harold & Kumar continue their adventure from White Castle by taking a trip to Amsterdam to meet up with Harold's love, Maria. However, things start to get wacky again when Harold claims he's being racially profiled at the airport during the security checkpoint search. He also meets up with his stunning ex-girlfriend Vanessa (Danneel Harris), who is about to get married to some right-wing big shot named Colton (Eric Winter). Kumar is reminded how much he wants to get back together with Vanessa and decides to fight for her. However, that plan is derailed when Kumar [being the genius that he is] decides to smoke a bong aboard the plane that is mistaken for a bomb. Some government dude named Ron Fox (Rob Corddry) is on the case, believing that Kumar works for Al-Queda and Harold is part of some North Korean terrorist faction. The two end up in prison at Guantanamo Bay, but escape pretty quickly. They end up in Florida with some illegal immigrants, eventually ending up on another road trip where they encounter a cyclops, some KKK members, George W. Bush, and Neil Patrick Harris again.

REVIEW
Both HAROLD & KUMAR films are more intelligent than most people give them credit for. WHITE CASTLE was a statement on racial stereotypes and how some people take advantage of that. GUANTANAMO BAY is more political driven, as if there's a statement on our stereotype that all Arabs [even though Kumar is INDIAN and not even Middle Eastern - shows how much we tend to assume via appearances] and Asians are all terrorists ready to destroy the United States because two high-profile people [Osama Bin Laden and Kim Jong-il] happen to be Arab and Asian respectively. Both films have a deep message underneath the stoner jokes and the wacky comedy, but it's hard to see that when you're laughing to the point where your stomach hurts and tears are running down your face due to the risque humor that pretty much contorts the R rating in ways that almost surprise me that these films, especially GUANTANAMO BAY, didn't receive an NC-17 rating.

These films both have a fairly simple plot that's expanded in the sake of presenting wacky situations that really don't have anything to do with one another except to push the envelope on one's personal sense of humor. Some people may be bothered by this, but when the jokes work and the script is really funny and clever, they really have no right to complain. While GO TO WHITE CASTLE is the better and funnier of the two films, both WHITE CASTLE and ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY are hilarious films from beginning to end and present great comedy to those who have or haven't lit a fatty up and experienced the euphoria that comes with it. What makes the film so funny is that while both are stoners, Harold and Kumar are two very different people personality wise. They remind me of The Odd Couple but if they did drugs [Harold is Felix while Kumar is definitely Oscar]. The two actors have great chemistry with each other and are very appealing to watch, which make their characters great to watch. The two play off of each other extremely well, making their friendship extremely believable. This helps root for them even when they [especially Kumar] do really stupid things. Without Penn and Cho in the leads, these films wouldn't work at all. They made a thin story seem more epic in scale due to their performances.

I think what makes these films so popular and so good are the situations Harold and Kumar put themselves in. In WHITE CASTLE, we get several classic moments like the whole Freakshow and his really hot wife scenerio. How many times have you heard a beautiful woman ask you to double stuff her in one of her holes or two? And her husband wants to join in on the fun! You don't have to be a pothead to know that's fuckin' funny. And seeing a cheetah exhale smoke out of his mouth is worth more than a chuckle. And what about that game of Battleship, but toilet style? I remember the first time I watched that and couldn't stop laughing for like 3 minutes. But my favorite scene is the "Crazy On You" by Heart montage, where Kumar has sex and marries his big bag of marijuana until the stress of marriage takes his toll on Kumar and becomes verbally abusive towards his grass. Just a great scene period that always makes me laugh to this day. ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY doesn't have that many classic scenes like that, but it does have wacky scenerios. I mean, we have an imbred cyclops person for Christ's sake. Who thinks this funny shit up? And that KKK sequence - yeah, having minorities in the deep racist South is either gonna make you feel uncomfortable or make you have fits of laughter. Plus seeing George W. Bush smoke a doobie just confirms that he's better at running a country under the influence than sober. I also enjoyed that flashback that showed how Harold and Kumar were like before they got hooked on drugs. That was pretty humorous to watch. Plus, any scene with Neil Patrick Harris in any of the films is worth watching. Seeing him play a drugged out and sex crazed version of himself is just addicting to watch. He's come a long way from DOOGIE HOWSER, M.D. and I'm glad for it. The guy is funny and talented as hell.

I do think GUANTANAMO BAY loses some stream after the first hour, as most of the working jokes are in that timeframe and things start being less funnier after that [although the G.W. Bush appearance is funny]. It just reminded me how much I wanted to watch GO TO WHITE CASTLE again because the laughs never stopped in that film. Plus this film is a lot more crude and gross-out than WHITE CASTLE, which I feel sacrificed the comedy for the most part for shocks and giggles. Still, GUANTANAMO BAY is still very funny and worth the price of admission in my opinion.

The direction for both films are very good, even though WHITE CASTLE is in much better hands with Danny Leiner at the helm. It's better paced and has more of a style than GUANTANAMO BAY does. Still, newcomers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg do a good job keeping up with the script. They know their audience and use the visuals to that advantage, creating a very slick film. Both films kind of use the green screen effect at certain times, but that only brings the charm of the film out even more. Personally, I have no complaints about the direction at all.

The acting is excellent in both films. John Cho and Kal Penn, like I mentioned before, are great as Harold and Kumar. Great chemistry, great comic timing, and the great achievement of making us believe them under these abnormal circumstances. Paula Garces doesn't do much in these films as Maria but whenever she does appear, she's spot on. She's also very hot. Grrrrr. Neil Patrick Harris is awesome as his Bizarro alter-ego. Watching him not take himself seriously by humping car seats, snorting coke off a chick's ass, and riding unicorns is a pleasure. I salute you, NPH. Watch after the end credits of GUANTANAMO BAY for more NPH goodness. Rob Corddry was very funny as the racist government agent who used every stereotype in the book about Arabs and Asians to make his points. Couldn't stop laughing at the extremes the man went to. Neither could the crowd I was sitting with. Danneel Harris is absolutely adorable and sexy as hell. She can play the bad girl extremely well, but she makes an appealing good girl as well. Eric Winter played a great jerk and nice foil to Kumar over Vanessa's affections. Plus the cameos you get in both films are insane. From Anthony Anderson, to a homoerotic Ryan Reynolds, to a mutated Chris Meloni, to good guy Roger Bart, to Beverly D'Angelo, to Grand KKK Wizard Chris Meloni, it's full of great talent.

THINGS I'VE LEARNED WHILE TELLING PEOPLE I TRIED POT BUT DIDN'T INHALE

- Paula Garces is smokin' hot. I didn't just learn that but I just wanted to say it again in case she ever happens to read this review and want to hook up. Call me, baby.

- Goldstein wants to eat out of Katie Holmes' ass. Too bad Tom Cruise and Xenu beat him to it. They just didn't want to wait for their lives to be over.

- Neil Patrick Harris is one horny, junkie actor. I really hope he didn't meet his boyfriend's mother in that state.

- Escaping from Guantanamo Bay is a lot easier than one would expect. If only escaping news about Paris Hilton and Heidi Montag could be as easy. Life is so unfair.

- Don't ever ride a cheetah. They're so fast that they'll run you into a tree branch and take you into the wrong direction. They can't be trusted. Some animals just don't seem to be able to change their spots.

- G.W. Bush enjoys doing pot. And people wonder why I've never bothered to try the stuff? Who's the cool one now? Ha!

THE FINAL HOWL
HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE is probably one of the funniest comedies of the decade so far. HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY isn't as funny, but it's still the funniest film I've seen since SUPERBAD. It's definitely a worthy sequel and I believe that if you loved WHITE CASTLE, you'll love GUANTANAMO BAY as well. Personally I think GUANTANAMO BAY is the best anti-terror film I've seen in quite a while. And after what we've been seeing on the news for years, we definitely needed a film like this. Who knew stoners were so enlightened? Both films are definitely worth getting high over.