Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)

An Asian-American office worker and his Indian-American stoner friend embark on a quest to satisfy their desire for White Castle burgers.

Director:

Danny Leiner

Writers:

Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg

Stars:

John Cho, Ethan Embry, Robert Tinkler

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cho	...	Harold Lee
Ethan Embry	...	Billy Carver
Robert Tinkler	...	J.D.
Fred Willard	...	Dr. Willoughby
Kal Penn	...	Kumar Patel
Steve Braun	...	Cole
Dan Bochart	...	Extreme Sports Punk #1
Paula Garcés	...	Maria (as Paula Garcès)
Mike Sheer	...	'I'm So High' Kid
Christopher Thompson	...	'Don't You Wanna Be Cool' Kid
David Krumholtz	...	Goldstein
Eddie Kaye Thomas	...	Rosenberg
Angelo Tsarouchas	...	Mean Tollbooth Guy (as Angelo Tsachouras)
Anthony Anderson	...	Burger Shack Employee
Siu Ta	...	Cindy Kim

Storyline

Harold Lee and Kumar Patel are two stoners who end up getting the munchies. What they crave the most after seeing a TV advertisement, is a trip to White Castle. So from here, follows a journey for the burgers they require. On their way they will encounter many obstacles including a raccoon, a racist officer, and a horny Neil Patrick Harris.

---

Plot Keywords:

white castle | stoner | police | police officer | hospital | 

---

Taglines:

Fast Food. High Times.

---

Genres:

Adventure | Comedy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language, sexual content, drug use and some crude humor

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Canada Germany

Language:

English Hindi

Release Date:

30 July 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Harold & Kumar

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£284,050 (UK) (4 March 2005)

Gross:

£284,050 (UK) (4 March 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Endgame Entertainment, Harold & Kumar, Kingsgate Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the DVD version if you go to the Menu screen you'll see Harold and Kumar driving Harold's car. If you let it sit long enough, they'll start to complain. "Why haven't they picked one of the menu choices yet? There are only, what, four choices?" Wait awhile longer: "They STILL haven't picked? What should we do? Do you want me to take my clothes off?".

---

Goofs

In the beginning of the movie, when Kumar is meeting with the interviewer for the medical school, the mug on the desk continuously disappears and reappears between shots.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
J.D.: Billy boy! Get your ass ready. It's almost 5:00 and this bad boy needs to get his drink on. No, no, no. Give me that.
Billy Carver: Don't.
J.D.: I'm gonna burn it once and for all.
Billy Carver: Stop it.

---

Connections

References The Gift (2000)

---

Soundtracks

"Also Sprach Zarathustra"
Written by Richard Strauss
Performed by David Kitay
Courtesy of C.F. Peters Corporation

User Reviews

If stoner comedy has a place in the satire canon, this is one of the best.

If two chicks sitting in stalls playing 'Battleshits' while the two Indian and Asian 'heroes' hide between them suffering the sounds and smells of scatological low humor sounds funny to you, then you should consider seeing 'Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.' My last stoner movie, the remake of 'Starsky and Hutch,' was indeed Sunday school by contrast.

Director Danny Leiner ('Dude, Where's My Car?') has taken this genre and made a classic, not just because it exploits every possible ethnic stereotype with zeal equaled only by 'Bad Santa's' decimating the Christmas formula. 'Castle' has such fun imitating the roguish good will of the Hope/Crosby road pictures while commenting on the egregious weaknesses of parents and police that almost anyone who doesn't mind a breast or two bared in the name of satire can laugh heartily at modern adult pretensions and youthful indiscretion.

Harold and Kumar are trying to find an all-night White Castle after experiencing the sudden yearning that afflicts almost anyone who has had a 'slider' burger. Like that little square of fat and calories, the pot and girls are just too good not to indulge now and then. The two early twenties students, one a serious stock analyst and the other a lazy pre-med genius, are like Hope and Crosby in their witty repartee and canny ability to escape harm. Being delivered from the wrath of seriously deformed 'Freak Show' and his siren wife doesn't deter them from considering the affections of the battling babes or idolizing Neil Patrick Harris in a cameo playing himself as a lethal womanizer.

More serious is the multicultural subtext about stereotyping (Asians are nerdy number crunchers and Indians are overachieving medical doctors, for instance) overturned by, for instance, morphing a seemingly 'Joy Luck' club gathering into a raunchy party or exposing a gang of mouthy skinheads as 'girliemen.' It's all pop-cult fun at our own expense, something akin to actually enjoying the articles in 'Playboy' even if they weren't our reason for buying the mags.

My grandson Cody and I bonded once again, this time just laughing at the silliness, enjoying the satire, and figuring how we could get his dad to allow his young brother to see it, despite the lurid spots that give spice and lend naughtiness to our increasingly dangerous lives.

If stoner comedy has a place in the satire canon, this is one of the best.