“Harold & Kumar” returns for the holidays … for another puff on the big screen. Reviews from Richard and J.P. on the third installment.
“A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS”
Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: R for “strong crude and sexual content, graphic nudity, pervasive language, drug use and some violence.”
Studio Synopsis:
John Cho (“Star Trek”) and Kal Penn (“Superman Returns”) reprise their title roles in “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas,” which picks up six years following their last adventure. After years of growing apart, Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) have replaced each other with new friends and are preparing for their respective Yuletide celebrations. But when a mysterious package mistakenly arrives at Kumar’s door on Christmas Eve, his attempt to redirect it to Harold’s house ends with the “high grade” contents—and Harold’s father-in-law’s prize Christmas tree— going up in smoke. With his in-laws out of the house for the day, Harold decides to cover his tracks, rather than come clean. Reluctantly embarking on another ill-advised journey with Kumar through New York City, their search for the perfect replacement tree takes them through party heaven—and almost blows Christmas Eve sky high.
The third installment is the first to highlight the guys’ hilarious mishaps in 3D. The 2004 cult hit “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” launched the franchise, followed by “Harold & Kumar Escape from GuantanamoBay.”
It would not be a “Harold & Kumar” film without Neil Patrick Harris, who returns along with Paula Garcés (TV’s “Defying Gravity”) as Maria; Danneel Harris (“The Roommate”) as Vanessa; Eddie Kaye Thomas (the “American Pie” movies) as Rosenberg; David Krumholtz (“Mr. Popper’s Penguins”) as Goldstein; and Bobby Lee (“Pineapple Express”) as Kenneth Park. Joining the ensemble are Tom Lennon (“I Love You Man”) as Harold’s new best friend, Todd; Danny Trejo (“Machete”) as Harold’s father-in-law; and Elias Koteas (“ShutterIsland”) as Ukranian mob boss Sergei Katsov. Rounding out the cast are Amir Blumenfeld (TV’s “Pranked”) as Kumar’s new best friend Adrian; Patton Oswalt (“The Informant!”), Richard Riehle (“Halloween II”), Jordan Hinson (TV’s “Eureka”), John Hoogenakker (“Contagion”), Jake Johnson (“No Strings Attached”), Yasen Payankov (“Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon”) and David Burtka (TV’s “How I Met Your Mother”).
Todd Strauss-Schulson helms, marking his major feature film directorial debut. Academy Award®-winner Greg Shapiro (“The Hurt Locker”) returns as producer and Mandate President Nathan Kahane, Nicole Brown, Richard Brener, Michael Disco, and Samuel J. Brown are executive producing. The screenplay is by Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg, who wrote the previous two movies and directed the second, “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guatanamo Bay.” They are also serving as co-producers, along with Kelli Konop and Jonathan McCoy.
Collaborating with Todd Strauss-Schulson behind the scenes are director of photography Michael Barrett (“Bedtime Stories”); production designer Rusty Smith (“Meet the Fockers”), editor Eric Kissack (“Brüno”), and costume designer Mary Claire Hannan (“The Kids Are All Right”). Music is by William Ross.
The film was shot on location in Michigan.
New Line Cinema presents, in association with Mandate Pictures, a Kingsgate Films Production, “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.” Opening November 4, 2011 in 3D and 2D, it will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R95TeZ9jE0Y[/youtube]
Richard’s Take:
The adventures of “Harold & Kumar” continue with their third outing. The boys are not on a quest to find White Castle or trying to escape from Guantanamo Bay, but on a mission to find … (drummer boy playing) … a Christmas tree.
Longtime friends Harold & Kumar are estranged at the beginning of the film, but are reunited when Kumar (Kal Penn) brings a mis-mailed package to Harold (John Cho), who has since married his girlfriend Maria (Paula Garcés) and living in the suburbs. At Harold’s house, Kumar sets his father-in-law’s (Danny Trejo) cherished Christmas tree ablaze with…what else, a large joint. From there, the boys go on a journey to search for a new tree in New York City before Maria and her huge visiting family return. In true “H&K” formula, nothing is easy — an angry gangster (Elias Koteas) is after them, they drink spiked egg nog and experience a claymation moment, and they find themselves onstage as toy soldiers dancing with the Rockettes and headlining star, “Neil Patrick Harris.”
There is also an unnecessary subplot with Harold’s & Kumar’s other new friends Todd and Adrian (“Reno 911’s” Thomas Lennon, Amir Blumenfeld) and Todd’s 2-year-old girl, who gets her first experience with several illegal substance throughout the film.
Besides Maria, some old faces return for the Christmas feature: other friends Rosenberg and Goldstein (Eddie Kaye Thomas and David Krumholtz) in a short cameo and Kumar’s girlfriend Vanessa (Danneel Harris), who brings him surprising news.
One of the situations that slightly disappointed me is that the film went “over the top” with the use of a waffle-making robot, who is able to help the boys when they need help. As with the previous films, they played it (as I remembered) straight forward in normal reality, but, with the thinking robot, there were some disbelieve (I know, I’m nic-picking over this one – LOL). Additionally, after a while, the jokes about the little girl getting high got somewhat tiring. First time funny, ten times later – not so much.
The best surprise of the film is, as always, the addition of Neil Patrick Harris playing a warped version of himself. Although he is not featured as much (most likely because he is a very busy actor with his TV show, other movies and hosting every award programs), NPH shows us that his personality — and sexual orientation — is a grand illusion.
As my film partner, SIDEWALKS ENTERTAINMENT’s J.P, Langston and I saw, the standard “Harold & Kumar” traditions are still there: vulgar language, some flesh, and the racial jokes. You would be extremely disappointed in a “H&K” film without these colorful features. Of course, this film takes it to another level: in 3D. There are flying eggs in your face, cars hitting traffic barrels, and enough marijuana smoke in front of you that you are thinking you must be violating some California smoking law. They – cast and crew — really used the 3D to its fullest.
Although I preferred the first two films (Langston liked this one and the original film), ”A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas” is a worthy sequel. Cho and Penn have great chemistry together and we hope, as SIDEWALKS host Maaika Westen asked Cho in his interview, that we would see more of the duo in forthcoming films (actually, we might with a just announced animated version being pitched for TV). Heck, NPH even told the guys, “see you in the fourth one.”
J.P.’s Take
The “Harold and Kumar” saga just wouldn’t be complete without a Christmas movie. Then again, its title is a total misnomer, because you wouldn’t call this a Christmas film per se. Instead, it’s a holiday themed vehicle for Harold Lee and Kumar Patel to once again offend people everywhere.
You’ll find yourself constantly bombarded with vulgar displays of foul language, nudity, racial stereotypical jokes, and male genitalia bursting from the screen in 3D. They even have the guts to make fun of Jesus in such a sacrilegious way; even people who aren’t religious may feel ashamed. And, of course, what would a “Harold & Kumar” adventure be without the casual use of marijuana? If anything “H & K” are the Cheech and Chong for today’s generation. They excel at producing sharp witted stoner comedies with a sense of crassness.
The movie also plays up the 3D effects making it part of the joke through out its running. In scenes where objects are being jettisoned from the screen, they appear to break the camera lens in the process. Some scenes become fantastical when the characters are thrown into a drug-induced state and become Claymation figures. Here Kumar can apparently grow his genitals to inhuman proportions while both Lee and Patel are chased by a giant psychotic snow man.
When the filmmakers are not placing the stoned pair in fantasy land, they find a way to turn the most mundane situations into dire ones. What starts off as a mission to replace Harold’s father-in-law’s beloved 12 foot Christmas tree, ends up with the duo running from the Ukrainian Mafia. There is one scene I didn’t care as the film was coming to an end: the moment in which Kumar was given a wafflebot by Neil Patrick Harris. It becomes a really ridiculous rescue scene with the wafflebot saving the day. I won’t spoil it for any one, so you’d have to see how ridiculous it is for yourself.
Kal Penn and John Cho do a bang up job of playing their respective roles. They’re still sharp with an arsenal of comedy routines. Neil Patrick Harris is a genius to say the least playing himself, yet not quite himself. It’s more like he’s playing the twisted dark side of his own personality. As always the female roles are attractive distractions and decently acted: Paula Garces plays Harold’s wife Maria and motivation for Harold’s tree mission and Danneel Harris reprises her role as Vanessa Fanning (from “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay”), Kumar’s girlfriend. Rounding out the cast is Patton Oswalt playing a mall Santa Larry Juston, who makes a brief appearance; Danny Trejo as Maria’s father Mr. Perez; Bobby Lee as Kenneth Park; and RZA as Lamar and his tree lot business partner Latrell, played by Da’Vone McDonald.
Unlike “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle” and “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay,” “A Very Merry Harold & Kumar Christmas” is a holiday fantasy gone totally awry. Yet, I found it no less funny or crazy than the first two. It only makes me wonder what they will come up with next.