many things could be said about harold and kumar go to white castle. in an ideal world it would be enough to merely note that it contains the following:
*the all-time greatest pee in the woods scene
*the all-time greatest truck ride with a man named freakshow
*the all-time greatest fantasy with a bag of pot
*the all-time greatest ride through a forest on the back of a stoned cheetah scene
*the all-time greatest sing-along to wilson phillips scene
*the all-time greatest english women taking noisy shits scene
*and for those watching on dvd, the all-time greatest dvd menu sequence
but this is not an ideal world and more may need to be said. here it is:
this is a movie by the same guy who directed the criminally underrated dude, where’s my car (and there’s a funny reference to that film at the end of this one as well)–doubtless this was/is reason enough for many who sneered at the thought of watching that one not to watch this one either. for what it is worth, harold and kumar is a major advance on dude. like the earlier movie it too is a stoner buddy movie, but this is a stoner buddy movie that brings into its foreground asian-american characters usually consigned to the edges of the contemporary buddy movie (even in generous comedies like old school which include minority characters the stars are invariably anglo). indeed, the guys who would be the protagonists of most such movies are the people the audience roots against here, and harold and kumar cleverly begins with a sly send-up of the setup that might have opened one of those movies. and two familiar faces from the world of the american pie movies have recurring cameos in this one (the great fred willard also shows up in a brief cameo as a dean befuddled by racial nomenclature).
harold and kumar busts many a stereotype and busts them without becoming worthy at all–the protagonists are not defined by their ethnicity (even if many of the anglo jerks they encounter along the way can’t see them any other way) and are more real than most characters in indie asian-american film. some commentators have noted some amount of homophobia in this film (for example, the new york times) and yes, these characters are terrified about being “gay”. however, what people who dismiss this out of hand miss is that the movie is having a lot of fun with slyly sending up the fact that the entire genre is intensely homo-erotic. having your cake and eating it too? maybe, but good fun. watch it. and watch the dvd extras–especially the extended scenes with freakshow–that guy is a genius.
Finally saw this. And I think the best compliment I can give is that, despite its parody of the teen or buddy genre, and its frequent lapses into simply being another iteration of those genres, it kept surprising me. Yes, the pee in the woods sequence. Also Neil Patrick Harris’ game, sly appearance as Neil Patrick Harris rocking on ecstasy. And David Krumholz, especially in the dvd commentary, who deserves his own films, and not crappy tv shows about mathematickal genius jews solving crimes. And Christopher Meloni, who’s as good here (as Freakshow) as he was in “Wet Hot American Summer,” which is going some. Give him a movie, too. And John Cho … who’s good however/wherever he pops up, and even when forced to fight a wonderfully cheesy raccoon he sells it.