“Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle” (New Line Cinema)
The new film “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle” is a crude comedy aimed at the “Porky’s” crowd. The movie is to be congratulated on its ethnic makeup and its placing of non-stupid people in the lead roles; but those are the only two positive points to be made for this trashy, silly film.
John Cho plays Harold and Kal Penn plays Kumar, two twenty-something roommates living ordinary lives. Harold has a job while Kumar is trying to decide whether or not to go to med school. His parents are basically supporting him.
One night they decide they want some White Castle hamburgers. They know where the nearest White Castle is and it isn’t that far. However by the time they do make it to a White Castle it is the morning of the following day. In between there is one idiotic adventure after another.
One of their adventures has to do with meeting up with Neil Patrick Harris. For some bizarre reason the actor is playing a character with his same name. This character also starred as “Doogie Howser, MD.” Hopefully the egotistical, loud-mouthed, obnoxious personality the character has is an exaggeration and not the way Harris is in real life.
The actions of these two men in trying to get hamburgers are so inane you wonder why an entire movie has been filled with them. Perhaps there is a major joke that this reviewer missed, or perhaps it is just silliness for silliness sake.
Cho and Penn are likeable young actors. They play their roles capably, but there is nothing to make the young men memorable or worthy of our attention. They just go through the motions of the story as it is written and act amiably dull as they are directed.
The movie is rated R for profanity, nudity and gross humor.
“Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle” is a brain-freeze movie. If you want to zone out for two hours then this is the perfect movie to do so with. It is unfunny and fun-less. Cho and Penn deserve something better, but word is they have signed on for two sequels. Oh the horror!
I scored “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle” a drive thru 3 out of 10.
