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An Indian-American med student Kumar and his roommate an Asian-American investment banker Harold go on a night road trip after smoking some dope to feed their craving hunger for some White Castle burgers, which was advertised when they were watching TV. On their way to White Castle - Harold has got some of the boss's work to finish off by the following morning and Kumar has got an interview for a possible job aspect the next day. But both of them didn't plan on the night to be filled with many out-there adventures and humorous obstacles stopping them from getting to their preferred destination.

Why don't you roll us up another one, dude! Welcome, to the new potheads of this generation! I'm fan of Cheech and Chong, but now the mantle in this new age has moved on to some far more intelligent and rather outcast buddy stoner's - Harold and Kumar. I say they are worthy of it too. It comes to no surprise that the director Danny Leiner made the even more stupider and whacked out film "Dude Where's My Car". Here Leiner repeats some of that goofiness, but the circumstances have changed around and it's a far more better effort. Maybe the story and it's high-jinks were not heavily populated with drugs or even entirely centred on it (say like most of Cheech and Chong's flicks), but it compensates that with its break-neck pace, mellow soundtrack and with a whole range of humorous gags. Some were just so politically incorrect, while others were filled with stoner humour, or they were just so crassly, infantile. But the main thing about this film is that it just plain stupid fun that parodies a lot of stereotypes and putting a spin on it to its advantage. While providing us with a couple of likable stoner's who have a lot more things on their mind, but their main priorities on this outing are some dope and White Castle. The story as it goes is simple; there on their way to White Castle, but a whole lot of small episodes sidetrack them before they get there. So, the plot is thin and it treads a familiar path like many teen comedies do, but really it doesn't matter too much because there are plenty of adventurous and comical situations that work out (like that of the "extreme" jocks) than actually misfire. Well, actually there's a small sub-plot involving Harold having a thing for his neighbour Maria that adds something else to the table. Really it's all about a bunch of ripe characters and ludicrous scenarios. Another factor that keeps this above the usual fluff is the highly witty, self-aware script that adds a fresh outlook with the irony of every situation seeming to find its way into the frame. Plus having a pair of protagonists who have a bit more brains and a strong friendship in nice change to the formula of the teen format. John Cho and Kal Penn's chemistry is perfect and they are sensational in their parts as the uptight and focused Harold and then you got happy-go-lucky Kumar. The supporting roles also have some funny moments from David Krumholtz, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Jamie Kennedy, Neal Patrick Harris and Fred Willard. And Paula Garces is gorgeous in her small part as Maria.

There's not too much behind this film, but I found to be a pleasing piece were no one is safe from this distasteful onslaught. Enjoyable hokum that you can't help but get the munchies.

Stoner comedies were becoming ever more popular in the early to mid 2000's. One of the more popular films of the genre is Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, released in 2004 and directed by Danny Leiner (The Great New Wonderful, Layin' Low, and Austin Stories) and stars John Cho (American Pie movies), Kal Penn (National Lampoon's Van Wilder, House, and Hot Mess Holiday), Neil Patrick Harris (Starship Troopers, How I Met Your Mother, and A Series of Unfortunate Events), Fred Willard (Best In Show, A Mighty Wind, and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy), and Anthony Anderson (The Departed, Kangaroo Jack, and Transformers). The film was a financial and critical success upon release and spawned two more sequels.

Harold (John Cho) is a hard working individual. On the other end of the spectrum is Kumar (Kal Penn) who values partying over hard work. Both and Harold and Kumar get stoned and after getting the munchies, decide to go and get White Castle.

Stoner comedies can be really interesting. Watching them sober can really show whether or not the film is objectively good. But watching them with a special aid can make them look like Mulholland Drive. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is certainly no Mulholland Drive but it's decent enough. Sober me got quite a few laughs here and there and even I was craving White Castle (even though I think it's garbage compared to other fast foods, it is at least garbage I have no problem with eating). I found this to be of the same magnitude as Super Troopers. Raunchy comedy, drugs, and nudity are very much present in this film which does not make for a great film overall, but makes for a good stoner comedy. With a Korean-American and Indian-American being the two leads, I was at first worried that the film would have it's comedy rely too heavily on stereotypes. But surprisingly this film is smart enough to know that it is better to make fun of the people who make fun of the stereotypes. John Cho and Kal Penn do a fairly good job in their roles as I found it to be believable enough as their chemistry did seem to work here. I also felt the film makers and everyone involved did seem to get the little details correct and did make this film (or rather the core concept) feel relatable enough. My negatives are small and few here. There are plenty of scenes where I found myself not laughing when the film tries a bit too hard to be funny (the bathroom scene is one example). Also, it seems that while our two main characters have to travel such a long distance to go to a White Castle, they seem to be meeting a lot of people they know along the way which I found to be really odd.

I do prefer to have a bit more depth in films that I watch in general and certainly stoner comedies are anything but that. But, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is a competently made stoner comedy that gets a few laughs and perhaps will warrant a rewatch under the right conditions.

After junior analyst Harold Lee (John Cho) and pre-med slacker Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) get stoned in their Hoboken apartment, the two see a White Castle commercial on television and immediately develop an intense craving for the fast food chain's signature sliders. Upon learning that the closest White Castle has closed down, they embark on a hunger-fueled odyssey across New Jersey. The low-brow adventure brings them through a violent Newark, a party-infested Princeton, and various other side quests as they travel in search of delicious hamburgers.

This is the plot of the aptly titled "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle," a buddy-comedy that is gross, outrageous, and laugh-out-loud funny. Writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg craft some very quotable dialogue and clever jokes in the screenplay, and who better to bring this stoner story to life than "Dude Where's My Car?" director Danny Leiner?

Above everyone else, it is Cho and Penn as the titular duo that make this movie so special. An odd couple for the modern era, Harold is an uptight and overworked straight man, while Penn is a genius who prefers partying to applying to med school. Although the two have their differences, their friendship is endearing and believable. Rather than having either character be the "cool one," they both face condescension from the people that fill their equally average lives. The fact that they are minorities living in New Jersey is not lost on the film either. Harold and Kumar both combat racism, but rather than making racism the butt of the joke, the movie places the casual racists as obnoxious and abusive while maintaining the main characters' rationally annoyed perspectives.

Ultimately, Harold and Kumar are relatable - ordinary people making an ordinary fast food run that gradually turns extraordinary. By the film's third act, the protagonists have undergone high speed chases, car accidents, a battle with a racoon, and an encounter with a disfigured Christian zealot in the woods. Later, they inexplicably pick up a hitchhiking Neil Patrick Harris (played by himself), who highjacks their car to go on a drug infused, horny bender. Oh, and they also impersonate doctors, break out of jail, and smoke marajuana with a cheetah in the forest.

It is hard to imagine all of that happening in a single film, but "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle" fluidly offers one absurd episode after another with uncompromised pacing. It has the cult qualities of "The Big Lebowski" with the general comedic appeal of "American Pie." Admittedly, movie probably appeals to male potheads the most and to Academy members the least, but judged against other raunchy comedies circa 2004, it surely stands out. Given today's call for more movies focused on non-white characters, I wouldn't be surprised to see Harold and Kumar make a comeback. In an odd way, they were ahead of their time.

Decent watch, could watch again, and can recommend.

I'm not a fan of drug humor, "because he's HIGH" isn't a good enough joke to me, but this felt like a spiritual successor to "Dumb and Dumber" (another movie that is funny, but I'm not a huge fan of).

John Cho and Kal Penn work amazingly together, so much so that I'm honestly surprised there isn't a web series of "Harold and Kumar" skits (and if there are, then happy day) trying to wring blood from stone.

The story has a great structure: a clear antagonist, clear love interest, a goal, plenty of adversity, and lots of quality character interaction.

The problem with the content is that it's a series of ever increasing ridiculous events. The continuity suffers a bit, but its done so well that it feels seemless in the moment.

The comedy writing is good enough that it holds up over 16 years, the majority of which is really funny. It's not so funny that this is an amazing movie, but it definitely makes it work a watch.

All through this movie I kept having flashes of deja vu... it might've been the pot I smoked in college, or it might've been because this was an ABSOLUTELY stock 80's stoner comedy. You could've cast Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong in this movie and no one would have noticed anything amiss.

Its not a BAD little comedy really. Its just that it didn't live up to all they hype about how incredibly funny it was that I had heard before I saw it.

Of course, that's probably my fault for hanging around with kids too young to remember the 80s...

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is a 2004 buddy stoner comedy that follows two pot heads with the munchies on their adventure to White Castle.

Starring John Cho and Kal Penn, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is a pretty good film and what most fans of the genre would consider a classic stoner comedy. It's full of outlandish situations with oddball characters that most will find pretty amusing. The cast is good with Cho and Penn pairing well together for this style of movie, bringing to life a couple of characters that will not soon be forgotten by stoner comedy fans. It's silly, it's funny, and it's just downright entertaining.

It took me a minute to warm up to this movie, but now I find it very enjoyable to watch. If you haven't seen it before, I would recommend checking it out.

White Castle is a funny movie overall and manages to be original and still funny. There's some great scenes and it's creative overall. It's a little dumb and all over the place but a perfect movie to throw on late at night.

"Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" is about a couple of stoners who get the munchies and decide to take a trip to White Castle. Along the way they face multiple obstacles but never lose sight of their ultimate goal: delicious hamburgers.

Whether or not you enjoy this movie will depend on whether or not you enjoy stoner comedy in general. Personally, I don't care for that sub-genre at all, particularly since at least every second joke seems meant to elicit the reaction, "Oh man, he is SO stoned!". This film is isn't quite so lazy in that regard but I still found it unimaginative for the most part. Granted, NPH as himself was an inspired touch and I got a kick out of the Wilson Phillips sing-along but besides that it was just a lot of clichés and pointless diversions. Add to that toilet humour that is sure to thrill anyone under the age of 12 and you've got a recipe for boredom on my part.

In retrospect, it was perhaps too much to expect a simple stoner comedy to include much humour that could be appreciated without being under the influence. Nevertheless, I wish that I had realized that the director's last film was "Dude, Where's My Car?" because that would have given me a none-too-subtle clue about the actual merits of this film.

"Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle" tells of two ethnic buddies and wannabe yuppie potheads who take a road trip to the not-so-local Whitecastle burger joint becoming involved in all manner of nonsense along the way. The story isn't particularly important as the film is more a conglomeration of misadventures which beset the duo as they run afoul of a bunch of street punks, cops, a really weird tow truck driver and his hottie wife, and more. Chock full of gross-out and potty humor, T but no A, blatant vulgarity, silly situational comedy moments, and some unoriginal stuff borrowed from other films, this raucous road trip flick is not for the sophisticated and will play best with "boomer babies" and the college crowd. (B-)

Not sure what was going on with NPH in 2004, but watching him in 2020 in this movie and knowing he is gay kind of killed his character for me ... because his character is the real Neil Patrick Harris, a real "swordsman" with the ladies in this venture. All that aside, an okay movie. Generally entertaining. Definitely worth a watch.

I absolutely loved this movie when I was younger and more impressionable. Upon seeing it again, the magic is certainly gone. It's fun, sometimes funny, has some absurd moments. It's a stoner comedy and an effective advertisement for White Castle. It turns out that White Castle didn't fund it themselves, although they approved the use of their restaurant in the movie. Originally, it was going to be Krispy Kreme but the company didn't want to be associated with potheads.

Nothing in this movie was brilliantly done, but the mood of turning a trip to White Castle into a long heroic journey certainly makes for good entertainment. It was a good novelty.

Quite a few stereotypes here and sexist jokes that can get a bit old. For its time, it was mildly humorous. Watching it again now, I found it very dull. Still- nice to see Hollywood embracing actors from various cultural backgrounds at the forefront of the cast.

Harold and Kumar Get the Munchies (2004)

This film is so stupid, and under normal circumstances awful, but its sheer unrestrained hilarity deserves credit.

Two stoners on the quest for some White Castle burgers encounter a number of frivolous obstacles that slow them down to their ultimate target. Eating 45 burgers at White Castle.

A clearly stupid film in almost every respect horrendous, mostly aimed at young people who want a brainless evening of fun, Harold and Kumar provides that and a lot more.

6/10

Perfectly enjoyable and appropriately stupid, "Harold and Kumar..." isn't good enough to be a comedy classic, but it's much better than the average boys-behaving-badly flick.

It aims for smart satire rather than easy gross out jokes, which made me appreciate its efforts even if it doesn't always succeed. The filmmakers try to be clever, but they're not quite up to the task. Neither are the two actors who play Harold and Kumar, who are passable, and come close to displaying the kind of chemistry that buddy comedies like this need to completely score, but don't quite make it. I found myself laughing at situations and the minor characters that come in and out of the film, but rarely at Harold and Kumar themselves.

I'd recommend this, though, if you're looking for something you don't have to think about.

Grade: B

I borrowed Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle from a friend after hearing how hilarious this film was. Personally, I've always thought this film looked really stupid since the day in July 2004 when the first trailer came out for it. After I saw it, I thought the film was decent. It was such a simple film to make it's not even funny and there was a lot of scenes in the movie that got it off other movies such as Road Trip or Tommy Boy. There were a few really funny moments such as the Marijuna Kills commercial, the Neil Patrick Harris scenes, and the cop scenes. I mean those were really funny moments in the movie that made me laugh but not laugh hard enough like I was hoping to. To me Kal Penn was the funniest character of the film as the Indian stoner named Kumar. Overall, a decent comedy with a good old few laughs but overrated in a lot of ways.

Hedeen's Outlook: 6/10 ** C-

Danny Leiner's following up to his well-calculated camp movie, Dude, Where's My Car?, is a surprisingly plain comedy, whose only significance is to cast Asian-American and Indian-American male leads as vehicles of a social commentary. The casting certainly evokes several controversies--for example, while most Americans know very well that there are many Gen-X or Gen-Y types among Asian-Americans and Indian-Americans, why does Hollywood rarely portray them in this film's manner? Leiner and company may bring up these issues to make changes, and maybe to find some commercial niche. The next should be Dude, Where's My Car? with ethnic minority leads; we gotta smash the current Hollywood casting standard that only whites can play loser roles. (grin)

I just arrived back from my advance screening of Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. To be honest, the previews don't do the movie justice; it was better than I expected it to be. That's not to say I'd be willing to pay for it though, a possible rental could be in order.

If you're a comedy junkie (by comedy I mean of course the stupider bits of comedy, we're not talking Coen Brothers here), then I'd recommend it if you've seen all the other movies on your list, otherwise it's wise to just wait and rent it. Also, if you're a fan of Stoner comedies, you might wanna check this out.

Though there are ethnic stereotype jokes, there are not a lot (whether or not you think that's good or bad, I'll let you decide). They definitely don't detract from the film and I did find some of them funny.

Taking the movie for what it's worth (it's no academy award winning drama), I'd rate Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle **1/2 out of **** stars.