







Search for perfect burger in ‘Harold & Kumar’

Following certain illicit activities, the munchies ensue. That’sthe rumor, at least.

“Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” makes the most of thispremise, using to reasonably comedic effect thefamiliar concepts ofstoner-slackerismand road travel. In road-travel movies,the searchfor nirvana is a frequent element.

In this instance, perfection is in the form of the small,reportedly delicious White Castle hamburgers. This correspondenthas never tasted one, so can’t confirmjust how tasty they are,butwe have all heard the raves, coming mostly from the wild-eyeddescriptions of Midwest and East Coast transplants.


“Harold & Kumar Go toWhite Castle” seeks to move beyondthesingle-note, uh-duh characters of the pot genre, with two ethniclead characters who are quite likely smarter than most of thepeople who will go see this film, including the aforementionedcorrespondent. Whether the characterschoose to exercise thatintelligence in the wisest ways is open to debate.

John Cho,familiar from the “American Pie” films, co-stars asHarold, an Asian-American investment banker who lives with hisroommate Kumar,whose family is from India. Harold is bright butlacks enough confidence to speak with the pretty neighbor he seeson the elevator every day. Harold has some quiet issues with hisownethnicity, and has trouble embracing it completely.

Kumar, played by Kal Penn, is bold and aggressive,and equallybrilliant, but shows no interest inbecoming a doctor, as others inhis family have. Still,halfway through the film he performs animpromptu medicalprocedure in a hospital operating room toperfection, in one of the film’s many improbable moments.

One night, Harold and Kumar smoke marijuana, apparently one oftheir frequent hobbies. The duo, with nothing better to do, thendecide they must have White Castle hamburgers, though the nearestsuch store is miles away, in New Jersey.


Determined, they begin an eventful road trip that will take themthrough numerous physical and moral mishaps, including altercationswith others less worthy or more geeky than they are, a hard-nosedcop who doesn’t like them, two beautiful college women whodemonstrate monstrous cases of diarrhea just before Harold andKumar are about to make their moves, a boil-infested tow truckdriver and a memorable few hours with real-life movie star NeilPatrick Harris, television’s Doogie Howser, playing himself, whoends up stealing Harold’s car so he can gopick upa few strippers.Just another purposeful night in Jersey.

“Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” is more intricate andclever than most in the genre, though the gags run hot and cold.The actors lift things, playing it subtle while havoc surroundsthem. And certainly it’s good to see characters who go beyond thedim-bulb male suburbanites who usually populate these things.

“Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” is certainly not farefor the easily offended, but for those seeking just that and a fewlaughs along the way, those can be found, much easier than theelusive burgers that stay just out ofthe reach of ourdualanti-heroes.