A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas

A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas

2011

Comedy

Rated: R

Running Time: 90 minutes

Starring: Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris, Danny Trejo, Thomas Lennon, Elias Koteas

Directed By: Todd Strauss-Schulson

Rating: 2 out of 10

Outline

Harold and Kumar reunite to try and save Christmas.

Review

I am back peeps after a 3 week hiatus. I needed to recharge my batteries after getting Dengue fever, or Tuberculosis, or Cholera, or whatever disease I contracted from the movie Contagion. I was walking around sounding and looking a lot like Val Kilmer from the movie Tombstone and now I sound like a wheezier version of Darth Vader. What I can tell you is I have watched tons of movies in my infirmity so be prepared for copious amounts of reviews in the next week or two. We start off with A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas. We find ourselves a few years down the road following the loveable stoners Harold and Kumar. They are all grown up and they have gone their separate ways. Harold is a husband and has a steady job while Kumar is a stoner with no job, and he is having trouble maintaining relationships. They are forced back into friendship as they need to track down a special Christmas tree to save the holidays.

I have never been a big fan of this franchise so I had little hope of this film working. It didn’t take long for my misgivings to be realized as this film pushes new levels of unfunny comedy. This film was too caught up in trying to shoot things directly at the screen/camera instead of being funny. Things like eggs, joints, explosions, and so on all head for the camera straight on. They spent too much time on projectiles instead of focusing on making the audiences laugh. We get that it is 3D now can someone tell a joke already? If you are unfamiliar with this franchise it is not that hard to follow along. Harold and Kumar are stoners that get into crazy misguided adventures while under the influence of marijuana. In this one they are estranged friends that are reluctantly forced to work together to save Christmas. So they travel the city looking for a special Christmas tree and finding themselves in some awkward and life threatening situations. This film never works even slightly. It starts off mediocre and somehow keeps plummeting for the entire film. They lost me somewhere between a baby crawling on the ceiling after ingesting cocaine, and a robot waffle maker that is in love with Kumar. The only thing clear to me was the writers of this film don’t understand funny. It is as if the writers assumed that the only fans left watching this franchise would be super high while watching this movie. That can be the only explanation as to most of what they try to pass off as humor.

Harold and Kumar are played by John Cho and Kal Penn. What little chemistry the two of them had in the previous films has dwindled down into virtually nothing at this point. They run into the same lame scenarios and spout off the same stereotypical racist jokes without even trying to be clever. Even the prize of the franchise being Neil Patrick Harris turns in a lack luster performance. When NPH barely registers in the film you know it is in trouble.

As the film progresses it just gets dumber and dumber. They play a ridiculous game of beer pong, do a Christmas themed choreographed dance routine, and run from mafia hit men; they are even Claymation at one point. Here is hoping that this is the comedic duos last foyer into the world of comedy as it was tough to watch. For a film boasting that it is shot in 3D it was shocking that the characters were so one dimensional. Even a modified scene from the Christmas Story but involving genitals will leave you shaking your head in disbelief. When the end of the film finally arrives one can’t help but wonder how low can they go. Harold and Kumar try and save Christmas but they almost kill the audience in the attempt.

Director Todd Strauss-Schulson has a limited comedic big screen background and it shows right through this film. He portrays the same tired weed and racist jokes that were more than covered in the first two movies. Harold and Kumar are supposed to be grown up but they somehow seem less mature and even more idiotic than when they started out. Schulson spent way too much time worried about the 3D that he forgot he was filming a comedy. This film is shocking in its ineptitude.

I cannot recommend this film as the Harold and Kumar franchise has clearly run its course.

T Factor + if you like childish and crude humor this could score higher on the rating scale.

T Factor – If you like decent stories to accompany your comedy than this could score lower on the rating scale.

If you liked this film reel recommendations: Bad Santa, Hall Pass.