Harold and Kumar Mock War on Terror

“Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” is not likely to be mistaken for a work by William Shakespeare. The Bard usually avoided fart jokes and marijuana abuse. However, the film does have a bit more to it than bathroom humor aimed at 13-year-old boys. It sneaks in a few jabs at the stupidity of the war on terror.

The movie is the sequel to “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle,” an innocuous and silly story about two roommates who get high and try to find their way to a particular burger stand. At the end of that, Harold (played by John Cho) discovers that the girl of his dreams, who lives in the same apartment building, is off to Amsterdam. Kumar (played by Kal Penn) convinces him to follow her -- “because you know what's legal there, dude.” The sequel continues this tale.

At the airport, Kumar is asked to step aside for a random search by the TSA. He makes quite a scene claiming that he is being racially profiled. The TSA supervisor lets him go. It turns out he was trying to smuggle a smokeless bong (a water pipe for those who lead a cleaner life than either Harold or Kumar) and some marijuana on the plane. Naturally, the bong winds up being mistaken for a bomb in mid-flight, air marshals capture the hapless pair, and they wind up in Guantanamo in orange jumpsuits. They escape from the prison, return to America with some Cubans on a homemade raft, and borrow a car from a pal so they can get to Kumar’s ex-girlfriend’s wedding. They hope that the groom (an exceedingly well-connected toff) will get their cases sorted out. Thus, the adventure begins.

Their bete noir is Rob Fox (played brilliantly by Rob Corddry), a member of the Heimatschutzministerium who is convinced that the pair prove North Korea is working with Al Qaeda. He is so taken with the idea that he ignores the obvious facts that would prove their innocence. He also wipes his backside with a copy of the Bill of Rights – an unsubtle statement but this isn’t a subtle film.

The finest moment of the film, if one is looking for a message of some kind, arrives just before the doped up duo land in George Bush’s Texas office by parachute (yes, they smoke with W). Dr. Beecher, an intelligent government official, snaps and tells Fox off, “It’s people like you who make the rest of the world think Americans are stupid. But we’re not stupid, and we’re not going to take this anymore.” Out of the mouths of babes and potheads . . . .

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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