Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
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| Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle | |
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| Directed by | Danny Leiner |
| Produced by | Greg Shapiro |
| Written by | Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg |
| Starring | John Cho Kal Penn |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | July 30, 2004 |
| Running time | 88 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $9,000,000 (estimated) |
| Followed by | Harold & Kumar Go to Amsterdam |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (released in some countries as Harold and Kumar get the Munchies or American High, because there are few White Castles outside of the U.S.) is a comedy movie that was released in 2004. The plot revolves around the two title characters, who decide to go to the fast food restaurant White Castle after smoking marijuana, only to find themselves on a series of misadventures instead.
The film was written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and directed by Danny Leiner. It also has appearances by Paula Garcés, Anthony Anderson, Dan Bochart, Ethan Embry, Jamie Kennedy, Bobby Lee, Christopher Meloni, Malin Akerman, Ryan Reynolds, Shaun Majumder, David Krumholtz, Eddie Kaye Thomas, and Neil Patrick Harris (as himself).
The movie was fairly well received by critics[1], and a sequel is planned, Harold & Kumar Go to Amsterdam (working title).
It is number 95 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies."
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[edit] Plot
After smoking marijuana, Harold Lee and his best friend Kumar Patel get the munchies and decide to visit a nearby White Castle for dinner, only to discover the restaurant has been closed. Told there is another White Castle about a 45 minute drive away, they head there.
They stop in Princeton, New Jersey to buy more marijuana and visit Harold's friend while avoiding a party they do not want to attend.
A bite from a wild raccoon sends them to the hospital where they attempt to steal medical marijuana.
After crashing the car, the pair is assisted by a tow truck driver named Freak Show and his promiscuous wife.
Back on the road, they pick up Neil Patrick Harris who, high on ecstacy, steals their car. An altercation with a police officer lands Harold in jail. Kumar calls the cops with a phony story about a shooting in the area, which all of them respond to. He then proceeds to break Harold out of jail.
After stealing a truck they are chased by a cop, causing a second crash. A hang glider from the truck's roof rack gets them to the White Castle. Harris shows up and offers to pay for their meal as a peace offering for stealing the car.
Arriving back at their apartment building, the pair runs into Harold's love interest and he kisses her. She says that she is leaving for a trip to Amsterdam. Kumar persuades Harold that the two should join her on her trip to Amsterdam.
On the TV news, it is reported that authorities are looking for the two men. The pictures, drawn based on their descriptions, show a stereotypical Asian with squinting eyes in a Conical straw hat, and an Indian in a turban.
[edit] Characters
- Harold Lee (John Cho) — A Korean American investment banker.
- Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) — Harold's Indian American best friend.
- Maria (Paula Garcés) — Harold's Latina love interest.
- The Extreme Sports Punks — A group of White Americans who torment Harold, Kumar and others.
- Rosenberg (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and Goldstein (David Krumholtz) — Harold and Kumar's Jewish counterparts and friends.
- Cindy Kim (Siu Ta) — A Korean friend of Harold's.
- Burger Shack Employee (Anthony Anderson) — A black man who is helpful to Harold and Kumar.
- Freak Show (Christopher Meloni) — A religious, tow-truck-driving, car-repairing, white gospel singer.
- Liane (Malin Akerman) — Freak Show's wife.
- Bradley Thomas (Hippie Student) (Dov Tiefenbach) — A drug-dealer at Princeton.
- Christy (Kate Kelton) and Clarissa (Brooke D'Orsay) — Princeton girls with British accents.
- Officer Palumbo (Sandy Jobin-Bevans) — A white police officer.
- Neil Patrick Harris — Of Doogie Howser, M.D. fame.
- Tarik Jackson (Gary Anthony Williams) and Nathaniel Brooks (Gary Archibald) — two black men, the former a professor at Rutgers, the latter an attorney.
- Dr. Patel (Errol Sitahal) — Kumar's father.
- Saikat Patel (Shaun Majumder) — Kumar's brother.
- Nurse (Ryan Reynolds) — A nurse who works at the same hospital with Kumar's father and older brother.
- Billy Carver (Ethan Embry) — A white financial investment executive and Harold's superior.
- J.D. (Robert Tinkler) — Billy's co-worker.
- Creepy Guy (Jamie Kennedy) — A man who urinates directly next to Kumar.
[edit] Stereotyping and Racism
As Asian Week put it, Harold and Kumar takes the model minority on a road trip.[2] The movie examines racial discrimination and stereotyping, though not deeply enough to offset the comedy. Another Asian Week review of the movie's weak box office performance questioned whether casting two Asian men -- even though they were well-known from other hit movies -- had contributed to its limited acceptance.
Harold says he is constantly faced with the stereotype of the "intelligent and nerdy East Asian guy", but fears being called a "Twinkie" by his Korean friends. It is explained that a Twinkie is, like the snack food, "yellow on the outside, white on the inside."
Kumar, despite having incredible MCAT scores, refuses to attend medical school as his family wishes, offering the explanation of "just because you're hung like a moose, doesn't mean you have to do porn."
Rosenberg and Goldstein are Harold and Kumar's Jewish friends Rosenberg wears a yarmulke, they smoke pot from a shofar and speak with Yiddish accents.
[edit] Location
The actual White Castle Restaurant was filmed at the (now closed) Swift Burger Restaurant in Caledon, Ontario Canada
The Cherry Hill White Castle location is fictional. The ending scene looks nothing like the real, relatively flat Cherry Hill. In reality, at least 4 different White Castles are located within five miles of Hoboken where Harold & Kumar reside: Jersey City, Manhattan, Union City, and North Bergen.[3] Additionally, there does continue to stand a White Castle location in New Brunswick, New Jersey, at 680 Somerset Street.[4] While the film made it seem that White Castle locations are few and far between in New Jersey, there are in actuality a total of 23 locations in the state.[5]
The opening office scene was filmed at the Steelestech office building located on the border of Toronto and Markham on the Toronto side. A few scenes were also shot in Mississauga and in Etobicoke, suburbs west of Toronto. The college scenes were also filmed in Canada — at the University of Toronto's Hart House and Knox College. In the scenes shot in Canada, Canadian retail companies such as Shoppers Drug Mart and Country Style can be seen in the background. Additionally, in the interior gas station scene, Canadian cigarette brands can be seen to the right of the American brands. [citation needed]
[edit] Meekrab
Meekrab (not to be confused with mee krob) was a band co-founded by the nephew of director Danny Leiner, now defunct. Band members used to always wear T-shirts printed with the logo, and they purportedly got the inspiration for their band name from the Dutch word for madder, a plant used for making dye.
Throughout the movie, Kumar can be seen wearing a Meekrab T-shirt.
[edit] See also
- Harold & Kumar Go to Amsterdam
- Model minority
- Road movie
- White Castle
- Asian American
- Indian American
- Korean American
- Stoner film
[edit] Notes
- ^ Rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
- ^ [1] Steamed At ‘Cars’ Asian Week. Jun 30, 2006
- ^ White Castle locations within 5 miles of Hoboken
- ^ White Castle locations in New Brunswick
- ^ White Castle locations in New Jersey
[edit] External links
- Asian Week The Future of ‘Harold and Kumar’ Asian Week Aug 20, 2004. "did the fact that the film starred two Asian guys have something to do with its unsatisfactory performance?"
- Official Site
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle at the Internet Movie Database
- Film Review
- Asian Week review
Categories: Articles lacking sources from September 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements | 2004 films | Comedy films | Buddy films | Films set in New Jersey | Road movies | American films | Drug-related films | Race-related films | Teen comedy films | English-language films | Asian film and theatre
