| Harold & Kumar | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster to the first film |
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| Directed by | Danny Leiner (1) Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg (2) Todd Strauss-Schulson (3) |
| Produced by | Greg Shapiro |
| Written by | Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg |
| Starring | John Cho Kal Penn Neil Patrick Harris |
| Music by | David Kitay George S. Clinton |
| Cinematography | Bruce Douglas Johnson Daryn Okada |
| Editing by | Jeff Betancourt Jeff Freeman |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | 2004–2011 |
| Running time | 136 minutes |
| Country | United States Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $21,000,000 |
| Box office | $67,430,031. |
Harold & Kumar is the common name for a series of stoner comedy films starring John Cho (Harold) and Kal Penn (Kumar). The first film, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, was released on July 30, 2004 by New Line Cinema and spawned a sequel titled Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, released four years later. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, the third installment of the series, opened nationwide in the U.S. on 4 November 2011.
The film series has become a critical and financial success. The first two films, produced on a total budget of US$21 million, grossed $73 million worldwide. In addition to its box office grosses, the first two films were extremely successful on home video. The series has been released on both Blu-ray and DVD.
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Harold Lee and Kumar Patel are two American stoners who get the munchies and embark on a quest throughout New Jersey for White Castle burgers after seeing them advertised on TV. On their way they encounter many obstacles, including a gang of extreme sports punks, a raccoon with an attitude, a group of Asian nerds, a racist police department, a cheetah that has escaped from a zoo, and an out-of-control Neil Patrick Harris.
Following the events of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold Lee and Kumar Patel fly to Amsterdam so Harold can pursue a budding romance with his vacationing neighbor. After arrival at the airport, Kumar creates trouble while going through security in order to get weed on the plane. The pair run into Vanessa, Kumar's ex-girlfriend, and her fiancé Colton, another old college buddy who helped Harold with getting a job at Brewster-Keagan, at the airport. Harold and Kumar board the plane, and mid-flight, an elderly woman sees Kumar lighting a smokeless bong. She thinks that it is a bomb, and screams "Terrorist!", causing the passengers to be alerted when Kumar is holding the bong. After a confusion of the words "bong" and "bomb", two undercover air marshals tackle Kumar; he drops the bong on the floor, which breaks and emits a pleasant-smelling, though visible, gas, causing another passenger to scream "Poison gas!". Air marshals tackle them and order the plane to return to the United States where Ron Fox, a neurotic Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, in Washington, D.C. sends them to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Just as they are "forced to suck Big Bob's fat dick" or perform fellatio, they escape and enter the United States through Miami, Florida with the help of some Cuban refugees. They go to see a friend of theirs, Raza, who is hosting a bottomless party and he encourages them to travel to Texas in search of Colton, with hopes that he will be able to help them through his father, who is connected with several high political officials.
In April 2009, Kal Penn accepted the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison in the Obama administration; when asked if his new job would mean no more Harold and Kumar films, he said, "That's probably true for now." [1]
A new film entitled A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas was announced on May 7, 2009, for release on December 5, 2010 at the earliest and possibly deferred to the 2011 holiday season.[2] Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg returned to write the film while Todd Strauss-Schulson directed. Greg Shapiro returned as producer with Kal Penn and John Cho reprising their title roles.[3][4] Penn left his job with the White House on June 1, 2010 to reprise his role as Kumar in the third Harold & Kumar installment.[5] After filming was completed, Penn returned to the White House. [6]
David Krumholtz, answering the last question of a Live Q&A Chat on TV.com that took place on March 12, 2010, mentioned that he and Eddie Kaye Thomas would probably be in the third Harold & Kumar film.
I do believe we will be in H&K3
Neil Patrick Harris also returned for the film (which he confirmed on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson). He went as far as saying that he finished filming and that the movie will be released in 3D (filmed with 3D cameras). Patton Oswalt has been confirmed to also star in the film.[7] Amir Blumenfeld, of CollegeHumor fame, has also confirmed that he has a role in the film. [8]
Harold Lee is a Korean American investment banker residing in New Jersey. The character was created by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and is portrayed by John Cho in all three films.
In Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold is a hard-working stoner from the northern part of New Jersey. Harold's lazy best friend and roommate, free spirit Kumar Patel, is not afraid to let go of his inhibitions, making Harold the symbolic personification of the suppressed Asian-American employee and student in the United States. Harold, at times, lets go of his inhibitions, but only during moments of extreme duress, to the point where he amazes even the free-spirited Kumar. Harold is the yin to Kumar's yang, with the both of them being united through their enjoyment of cannabis smoking after a long day's work and or leisurely fun (such as aboard an airplane in the sequel, and an after work "Friday night special" in the first film).
Harold's romantic life centers around John Hughes-like fancies (as is evidenced by his infatuation with film classics such as Sixteen Candles). Harold thinks that he'll wind up with a similarly repressed Korean-American young woman—Cindy Kim—who isn't as repressed as he thinks. The true object of Harold's desire, however, is Maria Perez (played by Paula Garces), who lives down the hall from him in his building.
In Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, when embarking on their trip to Amsterdam they are arrested on the flight there because of Kumar testing out his "smokeless bong" in the airplane lavatory, followed up by being sent to Guantanamo Bay—only to be followed by another series of comedic events. In one of the flashbacks Kumar has, it is revealed that Harold used to be an emo kid back in college.
Kumar Patel is an Indian American student residing in New Jersey. His family includes his father and brother, Saikat Patel. The character was created by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and is portrayed by Kal Penn in all three films.
In Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Kumar Patel is a 22-year-old college graduate. He shares an apartment with fellow roommate and best friend, Harold Lee. Unlike Harold, Kumar is a free spirited and outgoing rebel, not afraid to do what he wants. Kumar is the yang to Harold's yin, with the both of them being united through their enjoyment of cannabis smoking after a long day's work and or leisurely fun (such as aboard an airplane in the sequel, and an after work "Friday night special" in the first film). Both his father and brother are successful doctors, and expect him to follow in their footsteps. Though not interested in school, Kumar is remarkably intelligent and knows how to perform complex surgical procedures, as shown in the film while looking for medicinal marijuana at the hospital.
In Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, it is revealed that he had a girlfriend Vanessa in college, who introduced him to marijuana and transformed him from an uptight geek into the laid-back stoner he is today. She is about to get married to sleazy, deceptive frat boy Colton Graham (who disapproves of her marijuana habit), but Kumar interrupts the wedding and wins her back by reciting "Square Root of 3," a math themed love poem that he was afraid to show her in college. Harold, Kumar and Vanessa then go to Amsterdam to find Harold's love interest, Maria.
All three films feature Neil Patrick Harris playing a fictionalized version of himself. In the films, Harris is portrayed as a heavy drug user and womanizer, despite being openly gay in real life. In the third film, the fictional version of Harris is revealed to be pretending to be gay to draw attention away from his womanizing and appeared with his real-life partner David Burtka.
In an interview with Ain't It Cool News, Neil Patrick Harris revealed that the series' writers were discussing the possibility of a spin-off movie based on his fictional persona. [9]
Rosenberg and Goldstein are two Jewish friends and counterparts of Harold and Kumar portrayed by Eddie Kaye Thomas and David Krumholtz. They live in the same apartment building as Harold and Kumar. In the third movie, Goldstein stated he had converted to Christianity after marrying his wife.
There has been discussion of them getting their own spin-off movie, which would follow the characters during the events of the original film (theoretically titled Rosenberg & Goldstein Go to Hot Dog Heaven).[10] The duo is based on the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from the Shakespeare play, Hamlet.
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