Film Snail

6.5

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

R·2004·88m

Comedy

Adventure

Comedy

Adventure

Summary

Nerdy accountant Harold and his irrepressible friend, Kumar, get stoned watching television and find themselves utterly bewitched by a commercial for White Castle. Convinced there must be one nearby, the two set out on a late-night odyssey that takes them deep into New Jersey. Somehow, the boys manage to run afoul of rednecks, cops and even a car-stealing Neil Patrick Harris before getting anywhere near their beloved sliders.

Cast

John Cho

Harold Lee

Kal Penn

Kumar Patel

Paula Garcés

Maria

Neil Patrick Harris

David Krumholtz

Seth Goldstein

Malin Åkerman

Liane

Kate Kelton

Christy

Brooke D'Orsay

Clarissa

Steve Braun

Cole

Fred Willard

Dr. Willoughby

Rob Tinkler

J.D.

Bobby Lee

Kenneth Park

Anthony Anderson

Burger Shack Employee

Ethan Embry

Billy Carver

Eddie Kaye Thomas

Rosenberg

Ryan Reynolds

Male Nurse

Christopher Meloni

Freakshow

Boyd Banks

E.R. Patient

Siu Ta

Cindy Kim

Gary Anthony Williams

Tarik

Dov Tiefenbach

Hippie Student

Dan Bochart

Extreme Sports Punk #1

Mike Sheer

'I'm So High' Kid

Christopher Thompson

'Don't You Wanna Be Cool' Kid

Angelo Tsarouchas

Mean Tollbooth Guy

Albert Howell

Security Guard

Errol Sitahal

Dr. Patel

Shaun Majumder

Saikat Patel

Rick Sood

Indian Cashier

Sandy Jobin-Bevans

Officer Palumbo

Brad Borbridge

Officer Martone

Frank Spadone

Officer Reilly

Jordan Prentice

Giant Bag of Weed

Gary Archibald

Nathaniel Brooks

John Boylan

Officer Brucks

Dan Warry-Smith

White Castle Teenager

Thea Andrews

Female Anchor

Jamie Kennedy

Creepy Guy (uncredited)

Jon Hurwitz

Tony (uncredited)

Hayden Schlossberg

Hayden (uncredited)

Crew

Director

Danny Leiner

Screenplay

Jon Hurwitz

Screenplay

Hayden Schlossberg

Reviews

Kamurai

September 15, 2020

Decent watch, could watch again, and can recommend.

I'm not a fan of drug humor, "because he's HIGH" isn't a good enough joke to me, but this felt like a spiritual successor to "Dumb and Dumber" (another movie that is funny, but I'm not a huge fan of).

John Cho and Kal Penn work amazingly together, so much so that I'm honestly surprised there isn't a web series of "Harold and Kumar" skits (and if there are, then happy day) trying to wring blood from stone.

The story has a great structure: a clear antagonist, clear love interest, a goal, plenty of adversity, and lots of quality character interaction.

The problem with the content is that it's a series of ever increasing ridiculous events. The continuity suffers a bit, but its done so well that it feels seemless in the moment.

The comedy writing is good enough that it holds up over 16 years, the majority of which is really funny. It's not so funny that this is an amazing movie, but it definitely makes it work a watch.