Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle

I had high hopes for this movie; after all, since its release in 2004, I had heard a lot about it, and seen several clips of it on youtube. And more recently, I managed to get my hands on the "editor's cut" version, which meant an extra 4 minutes which was not deemed appropriate for cinematic release (in the US, not even Singapore). Uh...right. Anyhow, i feel obliged, even though this is not a movie review, that i do what all movie reviews must do, and give you the plot outline.

Harold and Kumar are two Asian-Americans that decide to go to a fast food restaurant called White Castle one night just to get their favourite burgers. Happens that this place is on the other side of town, and the point of the movie is that a whole series of disasters, which are played for gags, befall them on the way.

Was the movie funny? Overall, yes. Was the movie any good? No. It was disappointing.

This critical subtext in the movie was stereotyping; more specifically cultural and racial stereotyping. For example, "orientals" like Harold are viewed as either super nerdy computer science geeks and financial analysts, or at the other extreme, if female, porn stars.

Along the way, the movie takes swipes at blacks, whites, rednecks, and even movie stars (Neil Patrick Harris). The premise is good; we all function utilising stereotypes, since stereotyping helps us simplify our rather complex lives...but obviously, there will be many that do not conform to the stereotypes.

So Harold and Kumar, while stereotyped by white high school bullies and low intelligence cops, themselves stereotype others, such as the car mechanic they meet, who happens to live deep in the forest beside a swamp. So, just because he looks like Freddy Kruger (Nightmare on Elm Street), must it mean that he's a serial murderer?

Unfortunately, the movie loses its way by trying to milk every sort of cheap gag, usually inspired by marijuana based jokes. And most significantly, it deviates from reality too far. Sure, it is all right to have dream sequences (cut scenes) where Harold's or Kumar's vivid imaginations are done as cheesy MTV like music videos; but all this is lost when "the cheetah" scene is done. Since I don't want to spoilt the movie for those who haven't seen it, i can't elaborate.

So what is most disappointing is that what could have been an absurdist critique of racial stereotyping became pure absurdity, just to crack some laughs.

I am not sure I want to follow them to Guantanamo Bay.

Anyways, anyone who wants a copy of any of the movies covered here, just drop me a line.

This week, I also watched Up In The Air (George Clooney) and the Illusionist (Ed Norton).