|
|
Movie Review: Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
Harold and Kumar can’t escape awful writing
By Patrick Rills
Special to 2theadvocate.com
|
PLAY OFFICIAL TRAILER
out of 4 stars.
Harold and Kumar, the “Odd Couple” of the slacker generation, embark on another journey together. This time, their voyage is much more outlandish than their previous trip to White Castle. Unfortunately, it also lacks the appealing brand of the renegade humor found in their first adventure.
Harold and Kumar’s journey begins in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba after Kumar’s bong is mistaken for a bomb on a plane to Amsterdam. From there, the story only gets more absurd as the duo escape and head for Texas. On their way to the Lone Star State, they encounter an inbred cyclops, the KKK, and the over-drugged, psychopathic Neil Patrick Harris (playing himself).
In fact, there isn’t a five minute stretch of this movie that is at all believable. “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” is an opportunistic comedy throwing its jokes at the audience like a drunken prom date trying too hard to look cool. The movie will show and say anything to yank laughs out of the audience in a process as dreadful as pulling teeth. The producers of this film must not think much of their target audience.
The writers pull out all the stops from extreme nudity to urination to smoking marijuana with President Bush. They insipidly take advantage of the worst stereotypes with humor that wouldn’t have been original thirty years ago. When they aren’t regurgitating old racial jokes, they address serious social and political issues which is a lot like hearing a lecture on quantum physics at a NASCAR race - it just isn’t the place.
I liked Harold and Kumar better last time when they were just trying to get high and party instead of tackling sensitive matters such as racial profiling and the War on Terror.
This second installment lacks the spontaneity and authentic appeal of the previous “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.” Their chummy bickering as they search for a late night snack in the first movie was relatable to anyone who’s partied too hard with those friends who pressure you into all the wrong things. However, their journey in this sequel was too extreme to draw anyone into the story.
The worst part is that the movie fails to get the best out of its stars John Cho (Harold) and Kal Penn (Kumar). Penn has been riding on the fence of being a great actor with his guest stint on the television series “House” and a great performance in last year’s “The Namesake.” Cho is also rising through the ranks of the comedic world. However, by forcing them into such ridiculous scenes, it’s impossible for them to react realistically in a scene that is already crammed with too much garbage for the viewer to absorb.
“Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” makes any Pauly Shore movie look like “Dr. Strangelove” with its extremely lowbrow humor. Before you decide to see it, please ask yourself just how low can you go and then realize it probably isn’t low enough.
