Dir: Todd Strauss-Schulson, USA, 2011, 90 mins
Cast: Kal Penn, John Cho and Neil Patrick Harris
Review by Dan Collacott
Sometimes you need a gross-out gag-fest to counteract the saccharin laden schmaltz, sentiment and consumerism that Christmas forces down your throat. Step forward festive crusaders Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) to provide an anti-hero tonic to relieve the yuletide heart burn. A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (3D) is the pairing’s third stoner outing, this time helmed by up and coming rookie director Todd Strauss-Schulson.
Six years on from their last misadventure Harold and Kumar’s friendship is at a new low,. Kumar is still living the student stoner life style, pining for his ex-girlfriend, whilst Harold has swapped the weed and comedy mishaps for an office career, marriage and home improvements. A mistakenly delivered package reluctantly reunites the duo, kicking off another roller coaster of drug, pop culture, knob and sex infused absurdity. Their latest adventure hinges on replacing a charred prize Christmas tree, so Harold can win over his muscular Mexican father in law, with some waffle dispensing robots, Russian gangsters and a gun shot wounded Santa thrown in for good measure.
This time the debauchery has all been gloriously crafted in 3D and the elaborate effects are demonstrated most effectively by the inevitable Neil Patrick Harris (NPH) cameo sequence (another glorious, parody filled turn as himself). In fact it is set pieces such as the NPH mini-story, beer pong and an inspired claymation drugs trip that stop the movie from flat lining. The problem here is that there aren’t enough of these to detract from the fairly lukewarm bromance story that underpins the film. The pacing is all over the place and the story never really quite gets going. Despite the franchises’ history there is a real lack of chemistry between the two leads and the script sorely lacks inspiration. Despite the tepid underbelly, there is enough heart and sentiment within the films story to stop it from descending into one long bad trip, even if the running baby gags are a lot less funny than the writers clearly think they are. The film benefits exponentially from the fact it is filmed in 3D, as the overblown visual gimmickry seems to fit the semi-surrealist, manchild slapstick on offer here (although you may be pleased or disappointed to know that they stop just short from thrusting boobs and phalluses into the audiences popcorn).
2011 has been another golden year for USfilm comedy, with the highly profitable Hangover 2, Bridesmaids, Horrible Bosses, Hall Pass and Bad Teacher leading some surprise box office success. A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas doesn’t really stand up against those films. Even in terms of juvenile gross out gags and childish humour it still falls short. Doubtless fans of the series won’t be too disappointed though, even if the hijinks on offer here left me a little underwhelmed.
xx - posted on 23/05/2012 13:13:28
