Harold & Kumar

Harold & Kumar
Theatrical poster to the first film
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	283 minutes
Country	United States Canada
Language	English
Budget	$ 40 million
Box office	$ 102 million

Harold & Kumar is the name for a trilogy of stoner comedy films starring John Cho (Harold) and Kal Penn (Kumar). The first film, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, was released on July 30, 2004, by New Line Cinema and spawned a sequel titled Harold & 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 November 4th, 2011.

Despite some mixed critical responses, the series has been a financial success. The first two films, produced on a total budget of US$21 million, grossed $73 million worldwide. In addition to their box office grosses, the first two films were extremely successful on home video. The series has been released on both Blu-ray and DVD.

Series

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)

Main article: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

Harold Lee and Kumar Patel are two Asian-American (Korean and Indian) 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.

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)

Main article: Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

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. 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. During the plane flight, an elderly woman sees Kumar lighting a hand-crafted smokeless bong, who thinks that it is a bomb, and screams "Terrorist!". After a confusion of the words "bong" and "bomb", two undercover air marshals tackle Kumar, who accidentally drops the bong on the floor, breaking it and releasing what another passenger thinks is "Poison gas!". Harold and Kumar are detained by Ron Fox, a neurotic Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, in Washington, D.C., who then sends them to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. But just as they are about to eat a "cockmeat sandwich", the neighboring prisoners assault the guards and they are able to escape back to the United States. They meet with their college friend, Raza, who arranges a car for them to travel to Texas in search of Colton, a member of a family who has connections with political officials. On the way to Texas, they encounter various people from an inbred trailer home family to the Ku Klux Klan to Neil Patrick Harris.

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)

Main article: A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas

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."

A new film entitled 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. 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. Penn left his job with the White House on June 1, 2010 to reprise his role as Kumar in the third Harold & Kumar installment. After filming was completed, Penn returned to the White House.

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.

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 film would be released in 3D (filmed with 3D cameras). Patton Oswalt has been confirmed to also star in the film.Amir Blumenfeld, of CollegeHumor fame, also appeared in the film.

Characters

Harold Lee

Harold Lee is a Korean American investment banker who resides 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 man from the northern part of New Jersey. His lazy best friend and roommate is Kumar Patel. At times, Harold lets go of his inhibitions, but only during moments of extreme duress, to the point where he amazes his wild friend 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 after Kumar tests out his "smokeless bong" in the airplane lavatory. Then the two are sent to Guantanamo Bay where they are involved in a series of comedic events. In one of Kumar's flashbacks, it is revealed that Harold used to be an emo kid back in college.

Kumar Patel

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 best friend, Harold Lee. Unlike Harold, Kumar is a free spirited, outgoing rebel who is 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 Maria, Harold's love interest.

Neil Patrick Harris

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.

Rosenberg and Goldstein

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).^{[citation needed]} The duo is based on the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from the Shakespeare play, Hamlet.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Box-office performance

Film	Release date	Box office revenue			Box office ranking		Budget	Reference
		United States	Foreign	Worldwide	All time domestic	All time worldwide
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle	July 30, 2004	$18,250,550 (76.2%)	$5,686,358 (23.8%)	$23,936,908	#1,863		$9,000,000
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay	April 25, 2008	$38,108,728 (87.6%)	$5,384,395 (12.4%)	$43,493,123	#1,553		$12,000,000
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas	November 4, 2011	$35,061,031 (99.1%)	$326,181 (0.9%)	$35,387,212	#777		$19,000,000
Total		$91,420,309	$11,396,934	$102,817,243			$40,000,000

Critical reception

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle	74% (145 reviews) (6.5/10)	64 (29 reviews)
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay	53% (131 reviews) (5.6/10)	57 (27 reviews)
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas	69% (119 reviews) (6.2/10)	61 (29 reviews)
Overall	65%	61

External links

• Official website
• Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle at the Internet Movie Database
• Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay at the Internet Movie Database
• A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas at the Internet Movie Database