A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas

Two Asian men stand on either side of Neil Patrick Harris holding a candy cane like a gun.

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
Danny Trejo
Amir Blumenfeld
Music by William Ross
Cinematography Michael Barrett
Edited by Eric Kissack
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • November 4, 2011
Running time
 89 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $19 million[2]
Box office $35.4 million [3]

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas is a 2011 3D stoner comedy Christmas 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.

Plot

Three years after escaping Guantanamo Bay, best friends and roommates Harold Lee and Kumar Patel have since gone their separate ways. Harold has become a successful businessman on Wall Street, has given up smoking cannabis, and has married his Latino girlfriend Maria. Kumar on the other hand is poor, and still lives in the messy apartment he once shared with Harold. Kumar has recently been dumped by his girlfriend Vanessa, who arrives at Kumar's apartment to inform him that she is pregnant with his child. Maria's father and Harold's father-in-law Mr. Perez, decides to stay at Harold and Maria's house for the Christmas holiday. Mr. Perez, who doesn't like Harold, also brings over his prized Christmas tree that he has been growing for eight years, and gives Harold a small lecture about the tree's importance. Kumar receives a package with Harold's name on it at his apartment, and decides to deliver it to Harold. At Harold's house, they discover the item inside is a large marijuana joint.

Kumar lights it up, but Harold throws it out of the window, only for it to magically land in the tree, burning it down. Harold learns that Kumar's new friend Adrian is attending a party with a Fraser Fir Christmas tree, and promises to drive him to the party on the condition that he can have the tree. Harold, Kumar, Adrian, and Harold's new best friend Todd, arrive at the party, where a girl named Mary attempts to seduce Harold. It turns out that Mary is the daughter of a Ukrainian mob kingpin named Sergei Katsov who sends two of his men to kill them, believing his daughter was being raped by Harold and Kumar. The duo make it out of the building, without the Christmas tree, and run into their friends, Rosenberg and Goldstein, for the first time in years. Harold and Kumar plan to steal a tree from a church, but end up participating in a Christmas show featuring Neil Patrick Harris, who they believed died after being shot outside a Texas whorehouse six years earlier. Harris reveals that he did die but Jesus Christ kicked him out of Heaven. Harris hooks the pair up with a Christmas tree, and a Wafflebot, before sending them off.

The two make their way to Harold's house to put up the tree, but end up being kidnapped by two of Katsov's men, and saved by Wafflebot. After accidentally shooting Santa Claus in the head, Kumar gives him emergency surgery. In exchange for saving his life, Santa agrees to fly them back home in his sleigh, and also reveals that he sent the package to reunite the friends. Harold arrives home, only to encounter Mr. Perez, who is irate when he discovers his Christmas tree is gone. Harold finally stands up to him, explaining that he may not be the perfect son-in-law, but he is the perfect guy for Maria. Mr. Perez says that he always knew Harold was a nice guy, he just wanted to make sure that he had "cojones" before accepting him into his family. Harold and Kumar rekindle their friendship, Kumar and Vanessa rekindle their romance, and Kumar tells Vanessa that he will re-take the exams to become a doctor for the sake of their unborn child. Maria discovers that she is pregnant on Christmas morning and that Santa has left a replacement tree in their lounge. Harold decides to smoke weed again, and he and Kumar share a joint again for the first time. The film ends with Santa smoking a bong while riding his sleigh.

Cast

Production

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."[4] However, A Very Harold & 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.[5] Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg returned to write the film while Todd Strauss-Schulson directed and Greg Shapiro returned as producer.[6][7] Penn left his job with the White House on June 1, 2010 to reprise his role as Kumar in the third Harold & Kumar installment.[8]

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 clay animation scene.

After filming was completed, Penn returned to the White House.[9] 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".[10]

Reception

Box office

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.[11] At the end of its box office run, the film has earned a total of $35,061,031 in North America and $326,181 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $35,387,212 against a budget of $19 million.[3]

Critical response

Reviews of the film were positive. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 68% of 125 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.1 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."[12] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 61 based on 29 reviews.[13] CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "B" on an A+ to F scale.[11]

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."[14]

Home media

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on February 7, 2012. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in two versions: firstly, Single-Disc Blu-ray and DVD combo and secondly, Movie-Only Edition.[15] As of February 3, 2015, the film has sold 344,002 DVDs and 160,042 Blu-ray Discs totaling a gross of $6,649,425 and $4,855,462 respectively for a total gross of $11,504,887 in North America.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (18)". British Board of Film Classification. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  2. ↑ Kaufman, Amy (November 3, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Tower Heist' to swipe No. 1 spot from rivals". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
  4. ↑ Monez, Mindy (April 7, 2009). "'House': The Truth Behind the Shocking Surprise". Television Without Pity, Yahoo! TV. Retrieved April 21, 2009.
  5. ↑ "It's Going to be a 'Very Harold and Kumar Christmas'". MTV Movies Blog. May 7, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Harold and Kumar 3 Announced". Slashfilm.com. July 25, 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  7. ↑ Siegel, Tatiana (July 24, 2008). "'Harold & Kumar' set for third puff". Variety. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Kal Penn Leaving Washington to Reprise Role in Harold & Kumar".
  9. ↑ "Kalpen Modi Returns To White House Job After Leaving To Film 'Harold & Kumar' Sequel". abcnews.com. November 15, 2010. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Vote To Have The Harold And Kumar Munchies Truck Come To Your College". Cinema Blend. October 13, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 McClintock, Pamela (November 6, 2011). "Box Office Report: Holdover 'Puss in Boots' Wins in Shocking Upset over Brett Ratner's 'Tower Heist'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
  12. ↑ "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  13. ↑ "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  14. ↑ Ebert, Roger (November 4, 2011). "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas". Chicago Sun-Times.
  15. ↑ "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas DVD release". dvdsreleasedates.com. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  16. ↑ "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas gross". the-numbers.com. Retrieved February 3, 2015.

External links