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(About Our Ads) "HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE" (2004) (John Cho, Kal Penn) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Extreme Heavy Heavy Minor Mild Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate None Moderate Moderate Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Extreme Minor None Moderate Moderate QUICK TAKE: Comedy: Two stoners encounter a wide variety of people and experiences as they attempt to satisfy their case of "the munchies" with a trip to White Castle. PLOT: Harold (JOHN CHO) is a junior analyst at an investment banking firm who always has work dumped on him by his coworkers since they believe that Asians love crunching numbers. He also has a hard time telling the girl of his dreams, neighbor Maria (PAULA GARCÉS), how he really feels about her. Kumar (KAL PENN) is applying to medical school, but only to please his dad, and he makes no attempt to impress a dean of admissions (FRED WILLARD) who can't believe the young man's disrespect and gall. The two guys are best friends and roommates who decide that what they need this particular night is to get high, much like their neighbors Goldstein (DAVID KRUMHOLTZ) and Rosenberg (EDDIE KAYE THOMAS). Naturally, they then get a case of the munchies that's only exacerbated by a TV commercial for the White Castle burger joint. Harold & Kumar then set out on what's supposed to be a quick run for mini-burgers, not anticipating the various complications that will unexpectedly develop. After learning that the local White Castle is closed, they embark on a much longer quest that involves running into actor Neil Patrick Harris (NEIL PATRICK HARRIS) who's high on ecstasy; several men who come on to Kumar including a male nurse (RYAN REYNOLDS); and Freakshow (CHRISTOPHER MELONI), a tow truck driver who says they can have sex with his wife. As the night wears on and they have other run-ins with racist jerks and similar cops, nerdy drug dealers and more, the two become ever more determined to make it to the burger joint and satiate their pot-induced appetite. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? It's a good bet a fair number of teens, especially if they're fans of anyone in the cast or stoner films, will want to see it. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For strong language, sexual content, drug use and some crude humor. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: KAL PENN plays a carefree guy who's supposed to be doing interviews to get into med. school, but would rather get high with Harold. He does, and after getting a subsequent case of the munchies, he sets out with him to satiate that at a White Castle restaurant. He uses strong profanity. JOHN CHO plays an investment banker junior analyst who's fed up with his job and thus gets high with Kumar. He then sets out with him to eat at White Castle and uses strong profanity. PAULA GARCÉS plays the girl of Harold's dreams who lives in his building. NEIL PATRICK HARRIS plays a drugged-up and sex-craved version of himself who uses strong profanity. DAVID KRUMHOLTZ & EDDIE KAYE THOMAS play the guys' pot-smoking neighbors. CHRISTOPHER MELONI plays a weird tow truck driver who wants the guys to have sex with his wife and then wants to join in. RYAN REYNOLDS plays a mule nurse who comes on to Kumar. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a quick look at the content found in this R-rated comedy. Profanity consists of at least 56 "f" words, while plenty of other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Sexually related dialogue - some if it very explicit - is present, as is some nudity (bare breasts, a male bare butt). A woman wants to have sex with two guys at once (with her husband's approval who then wants to make it a foursome), while other sexual humor - some of it gay-based - also occurs. Some characters beat, hit or throw things at others. Various characters do various forms of drugs (pot, cocaine, ecstasy) and are high, while some drink and other drug-related humor occurs. Various bits of other imitative behavior are also present. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some viewers might not like the related racism and homophobic jokes that are on display. Several comedy scenes have rather bloody results, while several scenes feature crude/gross out humor (including a diarrhea contest and oozing boils, etc.). Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE One of Harold's coworkers says that he needs to "get my drink on." Kumar takes a call from Harold and then asks him when getting high has ever prevented him from his work. He then talks of having some pot and getting high. Harold and Kumar smoke a lot of pot and are then quite high. They then get the "munchies." We see programming on the TV that shows two guys smoking pot and then one, after saying he's so high, putting a rifle barrel in his mouth. We then see that it's an anti-drug commercial. Two of the guys' neighbors are seen smoking pot. After making a joking but disparaging homosexual comment about Harold and Kumar, one asks the other if he wants to "suck on this" (his pot pipe). We see Harold rolling a joint, but after Kumar is forced to drive through a toll gate, Harold tosses it and the rest of their pot out the window (for fear of being pulled over by the police). Harold and Kumar realize that they're out of weed (pot). Kumar tries to buy pot from a college student (who has a huge bag of it) and various slang terms for it are used. Once he's bought it, he invites two coeds to join him in smoking it, but that never occurs. Harold and Kumar share a joint but then take flight when a security guard spots them. Some miscellaneous students drink. Kumar lifts hospital access cards from his father and another doctor so that he and Harold can get access to some medical marijuana. When they're mistaken for doctors and taken into the ER, Kumar keeps telling other hospital staff that they need marijuana for the surgery (but are told the hospital doesn't have any). Kumar talks of being stoned in the past. Neil Patrick Harris states that he's on "X" (ecstasy). Kumar sees a large bag of pot in a police station and then has a fantasy montage that has humanized the bag (with full-sized arms and legs) and shows them going through quick scenes of being a "couple." Included in that is the two in bed with the bag coming up from under the covers (suggested oral sex) and then the two having sex on a bed "face" to face (all played for laughs and with no nudity). Harold and Kumar smoke pot and we see an escaped cheetah blowing smoke out from its nose. Neil Patrick Harris snorts some cocaine. Kumar reminds Harold about what's legal in Amsterdam (meaning drugs). BLOOD/GORE Kumar answers some medical school interview questions and refers to diarrhea as an "anal discharge." We see some guys attack two other guys on the street, striking them with pipes and then kicking them on the ground (played for laughs). We later see the victims who are bruised, etc. Harold and Kumar hide in the ladies room when two coeds come in. After some small talk, one states that she has the worst case of "taco sh*ts" and then goes into a stall next to the one the guys are hiding in. We hear a farting sound and then the other girl goes into the stall on the other side and one asks the other if she wants to play "battle sh*ts." She does and we then hear loud and exaggerated farting and related sounds from both of them as the guys react in disgust. They're then called the "diarrhea twins." Kumar states, "Daddy needs to urinate" and thus goes off into the woods where he stands behind a bush (we hear the sound of him urinating). A businessman then suddenly shows up and decides to urinate behind the same bush. A raccoon gets into the car with Kumar and Harold (unbeknownst to them) and then suddenly attacks Harold, biting at his neck (with some bloody results, but played for goofy laughs). Mistaken for doctors since they're dressed that way, Kumar and Harold are rushed into the ER where they see a bloody gunshot wound victim (blood is all over his chest and some squirts up into the air). Kumar then jumps into action and removes the bullets from his torso (graphically seen) and then inserts a large needle/tube into the man's body (all played for humor). We see some large warts on a tow truck driver's face and neck, then a pulsating boil on his neck and then some pus coming out of it. We also see crust in the man's ear. In a dream sequence, we see a gun firing an animated bullet that hits a cop with resultant animated blood (not intended to be realistic). Harold has a few scrapes on his face. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Everything presented here is played for laughs, but some viewers might take offense at some of the attempted jokes involving homophobia, racism and more. Two of Harold's coworkers pass their work off to him so that they can leave for the day, and they lie about the reason. Later, one of them comments, "Those Asian guys love crunching numbers." Kumar is rude in front of an admittance dean (or someone in the approval process) during an interview to get into medical school. As Harold tries to park in a spot, some other guys take it and then tell him, "This is America...learn how to drive" (a racist comment toward him). The term "homo" (and McFags) is occasionally thrown out from one guy to another as an insult or disparaging comment. Some guys repeatedly are jerks toward Harold and Kumar. Some guys call Harold and Kumar "McFags" and one then says that the guy with the purse is "the catcher" (meaning the recipient of anal sex). We see some guys attack two other guys on the street, striking them with pipes and then kicking them on the ground (played for laughs). We later see the victims who are bruised, etc. Harold says that an Asian girl calls him a Twinkie since he's yellow on the outside but white on the inside. The comment "yellow fever" is made about Harold (who's Asian). When describing the sight of Katie Holmes' bare breasts (that we don't see), one of the guys' friends compares it to the opposite of the Holocaust. Kumar lifts hospital access cards from his father and another doctor so that he and Harold can get access to some medical marijuana. Some guys are jerks toward Harold and Kumar as well as a clerk inside a convenience store. Neil Patrick Harris takes the guys' car. A white cop makes fun of Kumar's name. A cop takes money from Harold's wallet while Harold is in jail. A jerk refers to Harold (who's Asian) as Mr. Miyagi (from "The Karate Kid"). Harold steals some jerks' truck. The guys elude a police car that chases them at night. We see stereotypical racist drawings of Harold and Kumar. FRIGHTENING SCENES The guys nearly drive off a cliff at night (played for laughs). GUNS/WEAPONS We see programming on the TV that shows two guys smoking pot and then one, after saying he's so high, putting a rifle barrel in his mouth. We then see that it's an anti-drug commercial. In a dream sequence, we see a gun firing an animated bullet that hits a cop with resultant animated blood (not intended to be realistic). Although we don't see the actual shooting, Kumar removes bullets from a gunshot victim when he and Harold are mistaken for surgeons. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "F*ck that sh*t," "Chill the f*ck out," "F*cking assholes," "Let's get the f*ck out of here," "What the f*ck is going on (here)?" "Makes me want to burn this m*therf*cker down," "F*ck you," "F*ck it all up," "She's f*cking hot," "That was f*cking extreme," "F*ck us over," "Who the f*ck are you, sh*twad?" "Congratu-f*cking-lations," "Hurry the f*ck up," "You f*cking whore," "F*ck it," "No sh*t," "Holy sh*t," "Sh*tload," "Give a sh*t," "That's bullsh*t," "You sunk my battle-sh*t," "I'm bored as sh*t," "It was a d*ck move on my part," "C*ck boy," an incomplete "Suck my..." "Get your ass ready," "Dude," "What the hell are you doing (here)?" "Shut up," "Homo(s) and McFags," "What the hell?" "You're worthless," "Move your ass," "Chill," "Twinkie (bitch)," "Jeez," "Loser," "Lame ass," "Screwed up," "Daddy needs to urinate," "What crawled up your ass?" "Chicks," "Eat my balls, psycho," "You asshole," "My bad," "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition," "Freakshow," "Ball" (testicles), "Horny," "Bitch" (guy and a bag of pot acting like a woman), "Idiots," "My ass," "Are you nuts?" "Punks," "Dude, where's his car?" "Douche bags" and "Are you freaking out of your mind?" The film could inspire kids who've never used drugs to try them. Some miscellaneous characters have tattoos. A clerk at a fast food drive-through window suddenly goes crazy and overturns things in the place. When Kumar tries to get Harold to talk to a girl, Harold reaches over and plants his hand on the car's accelerator, making it speed off. A guy rides a kayak through the air in a convenience store (rowing through the stuff on the shelves). One of the guys confronts some jerks and tells them, "Go jerk off to some snowboarding videos." A guy gives "the finger" to Kumar and Harold, while also grabbing his clothed crotch and giving the "f you" sign with his hand and arm. A person gives others "the finger." Kumar gives "the finger" to some jerks. Maria wears a midriff-revealing top. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A moderate amount of comedy-based suspense music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) A song had lyrics that sounded as if they were repeating, "Let's get retarded in here." The term "nigger" is heard in some lyrics. Other songs had lyrics that we couldn't hear/understand, thus offering the possibility of them containing potentially objectionable lyrics. PROFANITY At least 56 "f" words (5 bleeped out, 3 used with "mother" and 3 used sexually as are the terms "bang," "boned," "humped" and "laid), 60 "s" words, 9 slang terms using male genitals ("c*ck," "c*cks*cker," "d*ck," "Johnson," "pr*ck" and "sausage"), 6 slang terms using female genitals ("p*ssy," "poontang" and "fur burger"), 9 slang terms for breasts (variations of "t*t" along with "boobs" and "rack"), 24 asses (10 used with "hole"), 21 hells, 1 damn, 6 uses of "Jesus Christ," 5 of "God," 3 of "Oh my God" and 2 uses each of "Jesus" and "Oh God." SEX/NUDITY One of Harold's coworkers tells another, "You will get laid." Making an analogy, Kumar states that just because you're hung like a moose doesn't mean you have to do porn. Harold walks into his room to find Kumar standing nude in front of a mirror (we see his full rear nudity). He states that he's trimming his "pubes" (pubic hair) and equates that hair to a bonsai forest and that cutting them "makes your Johnson look bigger." As he walks off, we see his bare butt again. Two of the guys' neighbors are seen smoking pot. After making a joking but disparaging homosexual comment about Harold and Kumar, one asks the other if he wants to "suck on this" (his pot pipe). Two of the guys friends are watching TV and hoping to see an actress' bare breasts (they use various slang terms, but we never see her or her breasts). They later comment on seeing them. A guy comments about the things he'd eat out of an actresses "ass" and then there's a comment about "banging" Britney Spears on the bathroom floor. Someone then says something that sounded liked "Vagina-meister" or something like that. A guy tells another guy to "let her touch your penis." Some guys call Harold and Kumar "McFags" and one then says that the guy with the purse is "the catcher" (meaning the recipient of anal sex). A clerk at a fast food drive-through window tells Harold and Kumar that the secret ingredient to the secret sauce is animal semen. A nerdy drug dealer excitedly tells Kumar (about two college girls they just met), "We're getting laid, bro." A comment is then made about "two p*ssies just aching to get boned by us." Two college girls talk about their breasts and one shows some cleavage. One of the guys tells the other, "We were this close to getting laid." Kumar states, "Daddy needs to urinate" and thus goes off into the woods where he stands behind a bush (we hear the sound of him urinating). A businessman then suddenly shows up and decides to urinate behind the same bush, making Kumar uncomfortable (particularly when the man stares down at Kumar urinating and says, "Nice pubes"). When describing the sight of Katie Holmes' bare breasts (that we don't see), one of the guys' friends compares it to the opposite of the Holocaust. An older man slyly moves his hand toward Kumar's in a bit of gay humor. A male nurse comes on to Kumar in the operating room. We see the outside of a porno theater where John Holmes' name is on the marquee. A tow drunk driver tells the guys that they can "f*ck my wife." Later, they meet her and she's an attractive young woman in small cut-offs and a top that shows cleavage. As she suggestively runs her hand along her open blouse, she suggestively asks them, "Are you boys going to f*ck me or not?" She then says that she wants both of them inside her at the same time, one asks if she's meaning 1 holes or 2 (she answers that) and the other complains about their "balls" hitting the others. One then asks if instead, "Can we have blowjobs?" She says yes and then tells Harold to help her undo her shirt. She then opens her blouse and we see her bare breasts. She asks, "Do you want to play with them?" and Harold then reaches out to fondle them. The tow truck driver then comes in and acts mad until they remind him that he told them they could do this. He's then okay and asks if they want to do a foursome as he removes his shirt (they flee from the house in terror). Harold and Kumar pick up the actor Neil Patrick Harris (as a hitchhiker) and ask about him and some girl on his show, "Doogie Howser." He replies that he "humped every piece of ass on that show." Neil Patrick Harris tells the guys, "Let's go get some p*ssy," complains that it's a "sausage-fest" in their car and then refers to female genitals as "poontang" and "fur burgers." He then tells the guys to hurry up as he's "losing wood" (an erection). When the two get out of the car, we see him lick the back of the front seat and then proceed to hump it from behind (fully clothed). One of the guys confronts some jerks and tells them, "Go jerk off to some snowboarding videos." We see a nerdy drug dealer in just his underwear in jail and a male cop reaches around and grabs one of his butt cheeks. A black man in jail states that he has a really large penis and that keeps him happy in light of other bad things that happen to him. Kumar sees a large bag of pot in a police station and then has a fantasy montage that has humanized the bag (with full-sized arms and legs) and shows them going through quick scenes of being a "couple." Included in that is the two in bed with the bag coming up from under the covers (suggested oral sex) and then the two having sex on a bed "face" to face (all played for laughs and with no nudity). A cheetah goes at Harold's clothed crotch but does so for the beef jerky that's in his pocket. In a dream sequence, Harold and the girl of his dream do some passionate, clothed kissing with her also licking his face (and straddling him on the ground in some skimpy attire), but when he comes to, he sees that it's Kumar licking his face (who explains that he thought some "gay sh*t" might wake him up). We see Neil Patrick Harris with two bare-breasted women standing up in a moving vehicle and he briefly has his hands on one's bare breasts. We see an aerial shot of some cleared farm crops that are in the shape of a penis and testicles. Neil Patrick Harris tells the guys that he made some "love stains" in the back of Harold's car. Harold confronts his mean co-workers (who are there with some girls) and comments on how they both got gonorrhea from a prostitute in Atlantic City. Harold and Maria do some passionate clothed kissing in an elevator. Afterwards, Kumar asks, "Did she touch your penis?" SMOKING We see cigarette cartons in the background of a convenience store. TENSE FAMILY SCENES None. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Drug use. Racism. Homophobia. A black man states that he's in jail simply because he's black (and he's okay with that). VIOLENCE We see some guys attack two other guys on the street, striking them with pipes and then kicking them on the ground (played for laughs). We later see the victims who are bruised, etc. A clerk at a fast food drive-through window suddenly goes crazy and overturns things in the place. Harold accidentally knocks down a nerdy drug dealer while fleeing the scene. A raccoon gets into the car with Kumar and Harold (unbeknownst to them) and then suddenly attacks Harold, biting at his neck (with some bloody results, but played for goofy laughs). A tow truck driver menacingly grabs Harold and Kumar by their shirts while briefly mad at them. Some guys throw things at a convenience store clerk. Harold tries to punch Kumar who ducks out of the way, thus making Harold inadvertently punch the cop standing behind Kumar. Kumar falls from an overhead vent shaft and lands hard on a table below him that collapses to the floor. A cop pushes Kumar down as he and other cops rush to push a black prisoner up against a wall (played for laughs at cop racism). We briefly see a cheetah dragging off a human corpse (in the dark with no blood). A low branch clotheslines Harold to the ground as he and Kumar ride an escaped cheetah. In a dream sequence, we see a gun firing an animated bullet that hits a cop with resultant animated blood (not intended to be realistic). A guy throws something that hits Harold on the head (he's okay). Harold and Kumar crash into a tree while hang-gliding and then fall down through the branches to the ground. Harold briefly chokes Kumar. Reviewed July1, 2004 / Posted July 30, 2004