| A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Todd Strauss-Schulson |
| Produced by | Greg Shapiro |
| Written by | Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg |
| Starring | John Cho Kal Penn Neil Patrick Harris Danneel Harris Paula Garcés |
| Music by | William Ross |
| Cinematography | Michael Barrett |
| Editing by | Eric Kissack |
| Studio | Kingsgate Films Mandate Pictures |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | November 4, 2011 |
| Running time | 89 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $19 million[2] |
| Box office | $34,860,367 [3] |
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas is a 2011 3D stoner comedy film directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and starring John Cho, Kal Penn, and Neil Patrick Harris. The main plot follows Harold (Cho) and Kumar (Penn), two estranged friends who embark on an adventure to find a new Christmas tree after Kumar destroys the original. It is a sequel to the 2008 film Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay and the third installment in the Harold & Kumar film series. The film was released on November 4, 2011 and is the first installment of the series to be shown in 3D.
Contents |
Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) is preparing for the holidays by visiting Santa at a shopping mall. Later on, the so-called "Santa" (Patton Oswalt) sells him marijuana in the mall's parking garage. Since being dumped by Vanessa (Danneel Harris), Kumar has let himself go by not pursuing a career as a doctor, poor hygiene and cleaning habits. He still lives in the messy apartment that he once shared with Harold Lee (John Cho), who has gone on to become a successful businessman on Wall Street. Harold's assistant, Kenneth (Bobby Lee), persuades him to buy a 3D television. As Harold and Kenneth leave the building, they are mobbed by angry citizens who throw eggs at them. Kenneth sacrifices himself in order to prevent Harold from being hit. Meanwhile, Vanessa visits Kumar and tells him that she's pregnant with his child, which shocks him. The two get into an argument and Vanessa leaves.
After he arrives home, Harold is seduced by his wife Maria (Paula Garcés), but their attempt to conceive is interrupted by the arrival of her father (Danny Trejo), who dislikes Harold.. He explains to Harold that he has never had a perfect Christmas, and is counting on Harold to make this one the best for his daughter. He has also brought a tree which he has grown for eight years and has deemed the perfect Christmas tree. When a package addressed to Harold arrives at Kumar's apartment, Kumar decides to deliver it to Harold. The package turns out to be a large marijuana joint that Kumar cannot resist smoking. Since Harold has gotten married and does not get high anymore, he knocks the lit joint out of Kumar's hands and it lands in the tree, causing a fire that destroys it. To replace it, Harold reserves one of the last decent Christmas trees available at a nearby lot. Kumar, feeling bad that he may have ruined Christmas for his now-estranged friend Harold, decides to look for a replacement tree, and ends up bribing the tree lot into selling him the tree that Harold had reserved. When Harold sees the car with the tree drive away, he chases it, and the car with Kumar's tree crashes and blows up on the highway, destroying the tree. Harold argues with Kumar right before introducing them to their new friends. Harold, Kumar, Todd, Adrian and Todd's daughter drive to a party in New York to retrieve a Christmas tree at Adrian's partner's party. Things takes a turn for the worse, and Harold and Kumar are forced to go to Broadway, where they hope Neil Patrick Harris can help them get a tree.
After a wild night of performing on Broadway, getting kidnapped by Ukrainian gangsters, and shooting Santa Claus, Harold and Kumar return to their regular lives. Harold invites Kumar to his Christmas party the following day. In the evening, Kumar sneaks through Vanessa's window and explains he will stop smoking weed for the sake of her unborn baby and will re-take the exams to become a doctor. Harold returns to Maria's house with her father waiting on the couch. The two argue until Harold explains he might not be the perfect son-in-law, but he is the perfect man for Maria. Maria's father hesitates before accepting him into the Perez Family.
The film ends with Harold and Kumar celebrating Christmas with their families and each other.
Filming took place in Detroit, Michigan, then Los Angeles and New York City from June to August 2010, with the use of Panavision Genesis and Element Technica 3D Rig. The film was released in RealD 3D on November 4, 2011.
Animators of LAIKA created the claymation scene.
Cho and Penn went on a tour to promote the film in different college towns. At each stop they had a bus hand out "munchies".[4]
Reviews of the film were positive. As of November 16, 2011, Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 72% of 97 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.2 out of 10. The website's consensus is, "Still raunchy, still irreverent, and still hit-and-miss, this Harold & Kumar outing also has a Christmas miracle: The audience gets to see the sweeter side of the duo."[5] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 61 based on 28 reviews.[6] CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "B" on an A+ to F scale.[7]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying "It's not that I was particularly offended; it's that I didn't laugh very much."[8]
During its first weekend, the film opened at third place behind Puss in Boots and Tower Heist, grossing approximately $13.1 million and underperforming its prediction of $18 million.[7] The film has earned a total of $29,595,000 in North America as of November 11, 2011.[3] It was planned to be released in Australia and New Zealand on November 24, 2011, and it is unknown when the film will now be released.
|
|||||