Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

Having not seen Harold and Kumar’s first adventure, and entering the theater a bit skeptical, I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised—I laughed a lot. This time around, instead of searching for White Castle, the unlikely duo (John Cho and Kal Penn, respectively) get caught smuggling a smokeless bong on a flight to Amsterdam. After an inept representative from Homeland Security deems the two a threat to national security (“Al-Qaida and North Korea are working together!”), Harold and Kumar (who is actually Indian) are sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. While their escape from the actual prison comes early in the film, the rest follows their hijinx—including a “bottomless” pool party and a ’shroomed-out Neil Patrick Harris (playing himself)—while on the run from Homeland Security in search of a pardon. Stupid, pot humor? Yes. But these guys pull it off, in a modern-day, a little less-stoned Cheech and Chong kind of way. And, if you can believe it, the film also takes some legitimate punches at the ignorance of the U.S. government (and Americans in general), particularly when it comes to race.