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 What
is it about 2011 that has unleashed all manner of ill-mannered, political
incorrectness in movie comedies? With the big studio releases of Bad
Teacher, 30 Minutes or Less and Horrible Bosses, I feel like Hollywood
is trying to say something. The arrival of the third Harold and Kumar
film – in unrepentantly gimmicky 3D, yet - amidst this embrace of
vulgarity couldn’t have come at a better time.
It was
inevitable; the ganja-loving young men we met in 2004 whose post-pot
munchies could only be assuaged by the delicious fare at White Castle,
have grown up … sort of. Harold has become a top earner at his bank;
he’s married Maria, the girl of his dreams and lives the good life in a
fabulous home. Kumar, on the other hand, flunked out of medical school
after failing a drug test, which means most of his days are spent stoned
senseless in the flat he and Harold used to share. Strangely enough,
family life causes problems for each of the estranged old friends;
Harold’s scary in-laws are descending on his house for the holidays,
with Maria’s snarling father bearing an obsession with executing the
perfect Christmas - and possibly executing Harold. Kumar’s relationship
with ex-girlfriend Vanessa isn’t quite over as she turns up in Kumar’s
smoke-infested hovel to announce he’s going to be a dad. A mysterious
package addressed to Harold and delivered to Kumar’s flat makes for an
uncomfortable reunion for the pair whose drifting apart hasn’t faded
some resentment that’s risen through the years. Kumar still thinks of
Harold as uptight and Harold still sees Kumar as an irresponsible
manchild who ruins everything he touches. Neither one is far wrong and
it’s Kumar’s special gift for destruction that sends the guys on yet
another road trip odyssey; this time to replace the special Christmas
tree that Maria’s father hand-raised that now lies in ashes after
standing too close to Kumar. Along the way, Harold and Kumar will be
chased and tortured by Russian mobsters, suffer sexual assault by a
gorgeous, frustrated virgin, befriend a devoted, waffle-making robot,
unwittingly turn an infant into a drug-crazed superhero and dance in a
Christmas spectacular with Neil Patrick Harris.
The 3D
aspect is immediately spoofed in the script and then used at every
opportunity to go way over the top. Well beyond the expected copious
clouds of marijuana smoke frequently billowing from Kumar like a
factory; we have eggs, excrement, beer pong, cocaine rocks, and
claymation penises all comin’ at ya. Yes, I said claymation penises:
After a dip into some spiked egg nog, the boys experience a trip that
turns them into animated characters in a scene that owes more to Robot
Chicken to the holiday innocence of Rankin-Bass. We also have a special
moment with Danny Trejo as Harold’s terrifying father-in-law, expressing
some Christmas joy in a way that could only be fully captured in 3D.
Prepare to add this scene to the list of things that you can never
unsee. The humour is totally politically incorrect in the strangely
sweet, equal-opportunity-offender way that seems to be a specialty of
this series. The outrageous, often surreal comedy is leveraged by the
presence of stars John Cho and Kal Penn, whose altar-egos audiences
continue to want to root for. However, this chapter strains that
likeability by barely featuring that bond, opting instead to focus on
craziness like the drugged-out baby, a very adult spin on a famous scene
from A Christmas Story, and the deceptively hetero Neil Patrick Harris’
return after being shot running from a brothel in the last film. NPH
recounts getting kicked out of heaven because Jesus didn’t want the
competition. And because no Christmas film would be complete without a
visit from St. Nick, the boys manage to get Santa’s attention by very
extreme means only to find out the jolly one is an enabler. Some of the
moments that do get the audience laughing without things hurtling at
their heads are the boys’ recalling their shared love of the Wu Tang
Clan, followed by a cameo by the RZA, the tale of Maria’s dad’s
unfortunate childhood, a throwaway line to Kumar asking if he didn’t
used to work in the White House and nearly every scene with Reno 911’s
Thomas Lennon as Harold’s semi-emasculated new BFF.
By
simultaneously mocking and pimping out the 3D trend, the Harold and
Kumar franchise lives to see another outrageous day. Gimmicks aside, I
hope the next film - and there’s every indication that there’ll be one -
relies a bit more on wit and Cho and Penn’s teamwork than over-the-top
visual gags. Even so, there are plenty of riotous laughs, guilty and
otherwise, to make A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas very enjoyable,
indeed.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
November 4th, 2011
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