Harold & Kumar

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Harold & Kumar
Theatrical poster to the first film
Directed by	Danny Leiner (Go To White Castle) Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg (Escape from Guantanamo Bay)
Produced by	Greg Shapiro
Written by	Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg
Starring	Kal Penn John Cho
Music by	David Kitay James L. Venable
Distributed by	New Line Cinema Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	2004 - present
Country	United States Canada
Language	English

Harold & Kumar is a stoner comedy film series starring John Cho and Kal Penn. The first film Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle was released in 2004. A sequel Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay followed in 2008. A third film in the series, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, has been announced.

Contents 1 Plots 1.1 Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle 1.2 Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay 2 Characters 2.1 Harold Lee 2.2 Kumar Patel 2.3 Neil Patrick Harris 2.4 Rosenberg and Goldstein 3 Future of the series 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Plots

[edit] Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

Harold Lee and Kumar Patel are two stoners who get the munchies and embark on a quest for White Castle burgers after seeing a TV commercial for the same. On their way they encounter many obstacles, including a gang of extreme sports punks, a raccoon with an attitude, a group of Asian nerds, an unlikely married couple who are Jesus freaks and sex seekers, a racist police officer, a cheetah which has escaped from a zoo, and an out-of-control Neil Patrick Harris.

[edit] Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

Immediately 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. Upon arrival at the airport, Kumar creates trouble while going through security in order to get weed on the plane. The pair run into Vanessa, Kumar's ex-girlfriend, and her fiancé Colton, another old college buddy who helped Harold get his job at Brewster-Keagan, at the airport. Harold and Kumar board the plane, and mid-flight, an old woman sees Kumar lighting his new invention, a smokeless bong. She mistakes it for a bomb, and screams "Terrorist!", causing the passengers to be alerted to Kumar holding the bong. After a mis-communication between "bong" and "bomb", undercover air marshals tackle Kumar; he drops the bong on the floor, which breaks and emits a pleasant-smelling, though visible, gas, prompting another passenger to scream "Poison Gas!" Air marshals tackle them and order the plane to return to Washington D.C., where Ron Fox, the neurotic Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, sends them to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Just before they are forced to eat a so called "cockmeat sandwich" or perform fellatio they escape and sneak into Florida with the help of some Cuban refugees. They go to see a friend of theirs, Raza, who is hosting a bottomless party and he encourages them to travel to Texas in search of Colton, with hopes that he will be able to help them through his father, who is connected with several high political officials.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Harold Lee

Harold Lee is a Korean American investment banker residing in New Jersey, US. The character was created by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and is portrayed by John Cho in both films.

In Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold Lee is a hard working stoner from the northern part of New Jersey. Harold's best friend & roommate, free spirit Kumar, is not afraid to let go of his inhibitions, making Harold the symbolic personification of the suppressed Asian-American employee and student in the United States. Harold, at times, lets go of his inhibitions, but only during moments of extreme duress, to the point where he amazes even the free-spirited 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, ironically enough. The true object of Harold's desire, however, is his Maria Quesadilla (played by Paula Garces) , who lives across the hall from him in his building.

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay begins with Harold in the shower cleaning up before their trip to Amsterdam, dreaming about Maria, then being interrupted by Kumar taking a dump. On the plane, they are arrested because of Kumar testing out his "smokeless bong" on the airplane, and sent to Guntanamo Bay. After escaping the two attempt to go to Texas in attempt to clear their name. In one of the flashbacks Kumar has, it is revealed that Harold used to be goth back in college. The end of the movie, after being cleared, Harold and Kumar arrive in Amsterdam and find Maria. The film ends with them, Kumar and his newly reacquired ex-girlfriend enjoying the city.

[edit] Kumar Patel

Kumar Patel is an Indian American student residing in New Jersey, US. 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 both films.

In Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Kumar Patel is a 22 year old Indian-American college graduate. He shares an apartment with fellow roommate and best friend, Harold Lee. Unlike Harold, Kumar is free spirited and outgoing, 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 love poem about math that he was afraid to show her in college. Harold, Kumar and Vanessa then go to Amsterdam to find Harold's love interest, Maria.

[edit] Neil Patrick Harris

Both 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 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. ^[1]

[edit] Rosenberg and Goldstein

Two Orthodox Jewish friends of Harold and Kumar. There has been discussion of them getting their own spin-off movie.^[2] The duo is based on the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from the Shakespeare play Hamlet.

[edit] Future of the series

Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg have announced plans to write and direct a third Harold & Kumar film, Greg Shapiro will return as producer with Kal Penn and John Cho expected to return in their title roles.^[3][4] 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".^[5]

A new film entitled A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas was announced on May 7, 2009, for release on November 5, 2010.^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] 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

v • d • e Harold & Kumar series Films Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle · Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay