Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
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Two friends embark on a surreal, obstacle-filled journey to find a specific fast-food restaurant after a night of smoking marijuana.
The story
Investment banker Harold Lee is coerced by his colleagues into doing their work while they go out partying. His friend, Kumar Patel, attends a medical school interview, but intentionally botches it to prevent getting accepted. After Harold fails once again to talk to his attractive neighbor, Maria, he and Kumar smoke marijuana together, during which they see an advertisement for White Castle and decide to get hamburgers. They travel to the nearest one in New Brunswick, but find it replaced by "Burger Shack". However, they are told of another White Castle in Cherry Hill.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Harold Lee and Kumar Patel, after smoking marijuana, set out to find a White Castle restaurant. Their journey is fraught with obstacles: they find the nearest location replaced by a 'Burger Shack', encounter a raccoon that bites Harold, and are forced to perform surgery on a gunshot victim to get directions. They are rescued by a tow-truck driver named Freakshow, who propositions them for a foursome, and later pick up a hitchhiker, Neil Patrick Harris, who steals their car. After being harassed by a racist police officer and encountering an escaped cheetah, they eventually steal a truck from extreme sports fanatics. Using a hang glider, they reach White Castle but realize they have no money until Harris reappears to pay. Harold confronts his co-workers for lying about their plans, and Kumar accepts his desire to be a doctor despite social stereotypes. The film ends with Harold professing his feelings to Maria, who reveals she is leaving for Amsterdam, prompting Kumar to encourage Harold to follow her to the Netherlands where marijuana is legal.
- First release year
- 2004
- Runtime (minutes)
- 88
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Danny Leiner
- Writers
- Jon Hurwitz · writer; Hayden Schlossberg · writer
- Cast and characters
- John Cho · Harold Lee; Kal Penn · Kumar Patel; Neil Patrick Harris · himself; Anthony Anderson; Fred Willard
- Genres
- buddy comedy; stoner comedy; adventure comedy; satirical
- Themes
- racial stereotypes; friendship; social conformity
- Tone and mood
- humorous; satirical; stoner
- Premise and plot tags
- road movie; buddy comedy; stoner comedy; Asian American
- Source material / true-story basis
- Based on experiences and people from when the writers attended Randolph High School.
- Franchise connections
- First installment in the Harold & Kumar franchise
- Reception
- The film received positive critical reception, with praise for the performances of its leads and subversion of racial and comedic stereotypes. It has gone on to gather a cult following.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 75% · review count: 146
- Production trivia
- The filmmakers received license permission from White Castle in 2002.; The University of Toronto's St. George campus was used as one of the sets.; New Line Cinema turned a parking lot on Sunset Strip into a temporary White Castle for the marketing campaign.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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