Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle Information

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (alternatively known as Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies) is a 2004 American stoner comedy film and the first installment of the Harold & Kumar series. The film was written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and directed by Danny Leiner.

The story follows Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) as they decide to go to the fast food chain White Castle after smoking marijuana, but end up on a series of comical misadventures along the way.

The film also features Fred Willard, Paula Garcs, Anthony Anderson, Dan Bochart, Ethan Embry, Jamie Kennedy, Bobby Lee, Christopher Meloni, Ryan Reynolds, Shaun Majumder, David Krumholtz, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Malin kerman, and Neil Patrick Harris, who plays a fictionalized version of himself.

Plot

Investment banker Harold Lee is persuaded by his colleagues Billy and JD to do their work while they leave for the weekend. Kumar Patel attends a medical school interview, but intentionally botches it to prevent getting accepted. Harold meets his neighbor Maria, but is unable to admit his feelings. After smoking marijuana with Kumar, and seeing an advertisement for White Castle, the pair decide to get hamburgers. After traveling to the nearest White Castle in New Brunswick, they find it replaced by "Burger Shack" but are informed by an employee of another White Castle in Cherry Hill.

When Kumar becomes sober, he suggests stopping at Princeton University to buy more marijuana. Kumar buys marijuana from a student named Bradley and after smoking more marijuana, they are discovered by campus security and forced to flee, losing their marijuana. The guards discover Bradley's bag of marijuana and arrest him. Harold and Kumar resume their drive, and Kumar pulls over to urinate. A raccoon gets in the car and bites Harold. Kumar takes Harold to a hospital where Kumar's father and older brother work. Kumar steals ID badges to obtain medical marijuana, but after being mistaken for his brother, Kumar performs surgery on a gunshot victim and after a successful surgery the patient tells them how to reach White Castle.

On the road, Kumar spots Maria. He decides to get her attention so Harold can talk to her, but Harold panics and presses the accelerator, causing the car to crash into a ditch. They are rescued by Freakshow, a tow-truck driver, who takes them to his house to repair their car and gives them permission to have sex with his wife. Harold and Kumar are propositioned by Freakshow's wife, but after Freakshow suggests a foursome, Harold and Kumar flee in disgust. Kumar pick up a hitchhiker, Neil Patrick Harris, who is high on ecstasy. Harold and Kumar go into a convenience store to get directions and Harris drives away. The duo are then harassed by a racist police officer for jaywalking. Harold attempts to punch Kumar for teasing the officer, but ends up punching the officer.

In jail, Harold sees Bradley being released and his stash confiscated. Kumar fakes a 911 call to draw the police away and breaks into the station to free Harold. Harold and Kumar flee with Bradley's stash. The pair encounters an escaped cheetah, and after smoking marijuana with it, they ride it. They realize the cheetah took them in the wrong direction and consider returning home, but when Harold and Kumar see their Jewish neighbors Goldstein and Rosenberg eating at a hot dog restaurant, Harold wants the satisfaction from achieving their goal. After encountering a group of sport punks who harass the pair, Harold and Kumar steal their truck. A police officer spots the speeding truck and chases them. They are trapped when they reach the edge of a cliff. Spotting the White Castle below, Harold and Kumar use a hang glider from the truck to reach their destination. The pair place their orders but are disheartened to find they have no money. Harris suddenly appears, and pays for their meal as an apology for stealing and then trashing their car.

Kumar realizes he wants to be a doctor, but is afraid of conforming to the stereotype of Indians becoming doctors. Harold notices his co-workers pull up with two women and gets angry because they said they had to work with clients, when they were out partying. He confronts them for leaving their work to him, and threatens to get them fired if it happens again. After returning to their apartment they encounter Maria in the elevator. Harold professes his feelings for her and they kiss. She informs Harold that she is leaving for Amsterdam but will return in ten days. Kumar convinces Harold to go with him to Amsterdam to pursue Maria, reminding him that marijuana is legal in the Netherlands.

Cast

• John Cho as Harold Lee, a second generation Korean-American man working at his first job in investment banking.
• Kal Penn as Kumar Patel, a second generation Indian-American whose family thinks that he will become a doctor like his father and brother.
• Paula Garcs as Maria Perez, Harold and Kumar's neighbor, on whom Harold has a crush.
• Neil Patrick Harris as Neil Patrick Harris, a fictionalized version of himself.
• David Krumholtz as Goldstein, Harold and Kumar's neighbor and Rosenberg's roommate
• Eddie Kaye Thomas as Rosenberg, Harold and Kumar's neighbor and Goldstein's roommate
• Brooke D'Orsay as Clarissa, twin sister student at Princeton University who agreed to smoke weed with Kumar
• Kate Kelton as Chrissy, twin sister student at Princeton University who agreed to smoke weed with Kumar
• Christopher Meloni as Randy/Freakshow, a car mechanic with infected pimples on his face and neck who fixed Harold and Kumar's car
• Sandy Jobin Bevans as Officer Palumbo, a police officer
• Ryan Reynolds as an OR nurse
• Fred Willard as Dr. Willoughby, medical school dean who interviewed Kumar
• Robert Tinkler as J.D.
• Anthony Anderson as the Burger Shack Employee
• Siu Ta as Cindy Kim, student at Princeton University who has a crush on Harold
• Malin kerman as Liane, Freakshow's wife
• Dov Tiefenbach as Bradley Thomas, student at Princeton University who sold weed to Kumar
• Gary Anthony Williams as Tarik Jackson
• Gary Archibald as Nathaniel Brooks
• Craig Stevens as Ralph
• Jamie Kennedy as Creepy Guy (uncredited)
• Ethan Embry as Billy Carver

Soundtrack

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle : Original Soundtrack was released on July 27, 2004. It contains 16 songs from the film.

Track list

1. "Chick Magnet" - MxPx
2. "One Good Spliff" - Ziggy Marley / The Melody Makers
3. "Yeah (Dream of Me)" - All Too Much
4. "Righteous Dub" - Long Beach Dub All Stars
5. "Skunk One" - Kottonmouth Kings
6. "Same Old Song" - Phunk Junkeez
7. "White Castle Blues" - The Smithereens
8. "Crazy On You" - Heart
9. "Cameltoe" - Fannypack
10. "Kinda High, Kinda Drunk" - Coolio
11. "Mary Jane" - Rick James
12. "I Wanna Get Next to You" - Rose Royce
13. "Hold On" - Wilson Phillips
14. "Ridin'" - Classic & 86
15. "5ves" - Heiruspecs
16. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" - Nicki French

Songs that are in the film but do not appear on the soundtrack include:

1. "Also Sprach Zarathustra" - David Kitay
2. "Baby Baby" - Amy Grant
3. "Ballin' Boy" - No Good
4. "Click Click Pow" - Lexicon (real song title is "It's the L")
5. "Warrior Dance" - Zion I feat. Pep Love
6. "Fall In Line" - Phunk Junkeez
7. "Faraway" - Dara Schindler
8. "Gangsta Gangsta" - J. O'Neal / D. Black
9. "Girl From Ypsilanti" - Daniel May
10. "Let's Get Retarded" - Black Eyed Peas (this song is the unedited version of their "Let's Get It Started" hit)
11. "Looney" - Moonshine Bandits
12. "Mariachi Speier" - Eric Speier
13. "On the Ganges" - Matt Hirt
14. "Rock to the Rhythm" - Lexicon (actual song name is "Rock")
15. "Rock Your Body 2004" - Stagga Lee
16. "Ooh Wee" - Mark Ronson

Release

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $5,480,378 in 2135 theatres in the United States and Canada. In total it had a worldwide gross of $23,936,908.

Critical reception

The film was positively received by critics, with a 74% rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 147 reviews; the consensus states "The likable leads and subversion of racial stereotypes elevate Harold and Kumar above the typical stoner comedy."

Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film 3 out of 4 stars and wrote "One secret of fiction is the creation of unique characters who are precisely defined. The secret of comedy is the same, with the difference being that the characters must be obsessed with unwholesome but understandable human desires."

Sequels

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is the 2008 sequel to White Castle. The movie revolves around Harold and Kumar trying to get to Amsterdam to find Maria, but when the two are mistaken for terrorists on the plane, they are sent to Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

Both Hurwitz and Schlossberg announced plans to write a third Harold and Kumar film, with Greg Shapiro returning as producer, and Kal Penn and John Cho returning in their title roles, While Todd Strauss-Schulson directed the film. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, was released on November 4, 2011 in 2D and 3D.

Footnotes

1. ^ The film's distribution rights were transferred to Warner Bros. in 2008.