Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Danny Leiner |
Produced by | Nathan Kahane Greg Shapiro |
Written by | Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg |
Starring | John Cho Kal Penn |
Music by | David Kitay |
Cinematography | Bruce Douglas Johnson |
Edited by | Jeff Betancourt |
Production
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Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release dates
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Running time
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88 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $9 million[1] |
Box office | $23.9 million[1] |
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (alternatively known as Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies) is a 2004 American stoner comedy film and the first installment of the Harold & Kumar series. The film was written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and directed by Danny Leiner.
The story follows Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) as they decide to go to the fast food chain White Castle after smoking cannabis, but end up on a series of comical misadventures along the way.
The film also features Fred Willard, Paula Garcés, Anthony Anderson, Dan Bochart, Ethan Embry, Jamie Kennedy, Bobby Lee, Christopher Meloni, Ryan Reynolds, Shaun Majumder, David Krumholtz, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Malin Åkerman, and Neil Patrick Harris, who plays a fictionalized version of himself.
Contents
Plot
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Investment banker Harold Lee (John Cho) is persuaded by his colleagues Billy and JD to do their work while they leave for the weekend. Elsewhere, Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) attends a medical school interview at the behest of his father but intentionally botches it to prevent getting accepted. Upon arriving home, Harold meets his Latina neighbor Maria (Paula Garcés) but is unable to admit his feelings for her. After smoking marijuana with Kumar, and seeing an advertisement for White Castle on TV, the pair decide to get hamburgers to satisfy their hunger. Traveling to the location of the nearest White Castle, the pair find it has been replaced by "Burger Shack" but are informed that there is another White Castle that is open 24 hours in Cherry Hill.
When Kumar becomes sober, he suggests stopping at Princeton University to buy more marijuana. Kumar buys marijuana from a student named Bradley (Dov Tiefenbach) while Harold deals with Korean students who admire his job. After smoking more marijuana, Harold and Kumar are discovered by a campus security guard and forced to flee, losing their bag of marijuana. While the guards chase the pair, they discover Bradley's bag of marijuana and have him arrested. Harold and Kumar resume their drive, and Kumar pulls over to urinate. He leaves the car door open, allowing a raccoon to sneak in and bite Harold. Harold convinces Kumar to take him to a hospital where Kumar's father and older brother work. Kumar steals ID badges from his father and brother to obtain medical marijuana, but after being mistaken for his brother, Kumar is forced to perform surgery on a gunshot victim. After Kumar treats the man's wounds almost effortlessly, the patient tells them how to reach White Castle and the duo continues their quest.
On the road, Kumar spots Maria. He decides to get her attention so Harold can talk to her, but Harold panics and presses the accelerator, causing the car to crash into a ditch. They are rescued by Randy, a disfigured tow-truck driver, whose nickname is "Freakshow" (Christopher Meloni). He takes them to his house to repair their car, giving them permission to have sex with his wife. Harold and Kumar are propositioned by Freakshow's surprisingly alluring wife (Malin Åkerman), but after Freakshow suggests a foursome, Harold and Kumar flee in disgust. Noticing a hitchhiker along the road, Kumar decides to stop and pick him up. The hitchhiker turns out to be Neil Patrick Harris, who is high on ecstasy. When Harold and Kumar head into a convenience store to get directions, Harris drives away in Harold's car. The duo are then harassed by a racist police officer for jaywalking. Harold attempts to punch Kumar for teasing the officer, but ends up punching the officer instead.
In jail, Harold sees Bradley being released and his stash confiscated. Kumar fakes a 911 call to draw the police away and breaks into the station to free Harold. As the police return, Harold and Kumar flee again, taking Bradley's stash with them. The pair encounters an escaped cheetah, and after smoking marijuana with it, they ride it. They realize the cheetah took them in the wrong direction and consider returning home, but when Harold and Kumar see their Jewish neighbors Goldstein (David Krumholtz) and Rosenberg (Eddie Kaye Thomas) eating at a hot dog restaurant, Harold decides he wants the feeling of satisfaction from achieving their goal. After encountering a group of sport punks who routinely harass the pair, Harold and Kumar steal their truck. A police officer spots the speeding truck and chases them. They briefly elude the officer, but are trapped when they reach the edge of a cliff. Spotting the White Castle below, Harold and Kumar use a hang glider from the truck to reach their destination. The pair place their orders but are disheartened to find they have no money. Harris suddenly appears, and apologizes for his actions, providing them with cash for their meal and for repairs to Harold's car.
Kumar realizes he wants to be a doctor, but is afraid of conforming to the stereotype of Indians becoming doctors. As Kumar is talking, Harold notices his co-workers pull up with two women and gets angry because they said they had to work with clients that night, when they were actually out partying. He confronts them for leaving their work to him, and threatens to report them if it happens again. After returning to their apartment they encounter Maria in the elevator. Harold finally professes his feelings for her and they kiss. She informs Harold that she is leaving for Amsterdam but will return in ten days. Kumar convinces Harold to go with him to Amsterdam to pursue Maria, reminding him that marijuana is legal in the Netherlands.
Cast
- John Cho as Harold Lee, a second generation Korean-American man working at his first job in investment banking.
- Kal Penn as Kumar Patel, a second generation Indian-American whose family thinks that he will become a doctor like his father and brother.
- Paula Garcés as Maria Perez, Harold and Kumar's neighbor, on whom Harold has a crush.
- Neil Patrick Harris as Neil Patrick Harris, a fictionalized version of himself.
- David Krumholtz as Goldstein, Harold and Kumar's neighbor and Rosenberg's roommate
- Eddie Kaye Thomas as Rosenberg, Harold and Kumar's neighbor and Goldstein's roommate
- Brooke D'Orsay as Clarissa, twin sister student at Princeton University who agreed to smoke weed with Kumar
- Kate Kelton as Chrissy, twin sister student at Princeton University who agreed to smoke weed with Kumar
- Christopher Meloni as Randy/Freakshow, a car mechanic with infected pimples on his face and neck who fixed Harold and Kumar's car
- Sandy Jobin Bevans as Officer Palumbo, a police officer
- Ryan Reynolds as an OR nurse
- Fred Willard as Dr. Willoughby, medical school dean who interviewed Kumar
- Robert Tinkler as J.D.
- Anthony Anderson as the Burger Shack Employee
- Siu Ta as Cindy Kim, student at Princeton University who has a crush on Harold
- Malin Åkerman as Liane, Freakshow's wife
- Dov Tiefenbach as Bradley Thomas, student at Princeton University who sold weed to Kumar
- Gary Anthony Williams as Tarik Jackson
- Gary Archibald as Nathaniel Brooks
- Craig Stevens as Ralph
- Jamie Kennedy as Creepy Guy (uncredited)
- Ethan Embry as Billy Carver
Soundtrack
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - Soundtrack | |
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Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
Released | July 27th, 2004 |
Label | Bulletproof |
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle : Original Soundtrack was released on July 27, 2004. It contains 16 songs from the film.
- Track list
- "Chick Magnet" - MxPx
- "One Good Spliff" - Ziggy Marley / The Melody Makers
- "Yeah (Dream of Me)" - All Too Much
- "Righteous Dub" - Long Beach Dub All Stars
- "Skunk One" - Kottonmouth Kings
- "Same Old Song" - Phunk Junkeez
- "White Castle Blues" - The Smithereens
- "Crazy On You" - Heart
- "Cameltoe" - Fannypack
- "Kinda High, Kinda Drunk" - Coolio
- "Mary Jane" - Rick James
- "I Wanna Get Next to You" - Rose Royce
- "Hold On" - Wilson Phillips
- "Ridin'" - Classic & 86
- "5ves" - Heiruspecs
- "Total Eclipse of the Heart" - Nicki French
Songs that are in the film but do not appear on the soundtrack include:
- "Also Sprach Zarathustra" - David Kitay
- "Baby Baby" - Amy Grant
- "Ballin' Boy" - No Good
- "Click Click Pow" - Lexicon (real song title is "It's the L")
- "Warrior Dance" - Zion I feat. Pep Love
- "Fall In Line" - Phunk Junkeez
- "Faraway" - Dara Schindler
- "Gangsta Gangsta" - J. O'Neal / D. Black
- "Girl From Ypsilanti" - Daniel May
- "Let's Get Retarded" - Black Eyed Peas (this song is the unedited version of their "Let's Get It Started" hit)
- "Looney" - Moonshine Bandits
- "Mariachi Speier" - Eric Speier
- "On the Ganges" - Matt Hirt
- "Rock to the Rhythm" - Lexicon (actual song name is "Rock")
- "Rock Your Body 2004" - Stagga Lee
- "Ooh Wee" - Mark Ronson
Release
Box office
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $5,480,378 in 2135 theatres in the United States and Canada. In total it had a worldwide gross of $23,936,908.[1]
Critical reception
The film was positively received by critics, with a 74% rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 147 reviews; the consensus states "The likable leads and subversion of racial stereotypes elevate Harold and Kumar above the typical stoner comedy."[2][3]
Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film 3 out of 4 stars and wrote "One secret of fiction is the creation of unique characters who are precisely defined. The secret of comedy is the same, with the difference being that the characters must be obsessed with unwholesome but understandable human desires."[4]
Sequels
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is the 2008 sequel to White Castle. The movie revolves around Harold and Kumar trying to get to Amsterdam to find Maria, but when the two are mistaken for terrorists on the plane, they are sent to Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
Both Hurwitz and Schlossberg announced plans to write a third Harold and Kumar film, with Greg Shapiro returning as producer, and Kal Penn and John Cho returning in their title roles,[5][6] While Todd Strauss-Schulson directed the film. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, was released on November 4, 2011 in 2D and 3D.
References
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External links
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle |
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle at IMDb
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle at AllMovie
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle at Box Office Mojo
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle at Rotten Tomatoes
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle at Metacritic
- 2004 films
- English-language films
- Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters
- 2000s adventure films
- 2000s comedy films
- American films
- American adventure comedy films
- Canadian films
- Canadian comedy films
- Asian-American films
- Buddy films
- Films about cannabis
- Films set in New Jersey
- Films shot in New Jersey
- Films shot in Toronto
- Films about race and ethnicity
- Road movies
- New Line Cinema films
- Films directed by Danny Leiner