The more I think about this movie, the more I like it. Now, if all you're looking for is another stupid comedy, you've got it. I may be alone on this one, but there wasn't a single part of this movie that was too stupid for me to laugh at. John Cho and Kal Penn as the title characters made one of the best comedy duos I've seen in a while. Yes, the movie was crude. Yes, it was stupid. But I still laughed my butt off. On a completely different level, though, Harold and Kumar was actually a good movie. Underneath the typical dumb comedy was an interesting, somewhat progressive movie. You see, this sort of comedy would normally go to a pair of white teens or twenty-somethings. Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott, for example. But the writers of this film decided to put two "ethnic" guys in the lead roles, which becomes an integral part of the story. Harold and Kumar deal with issues that were remarkably familiar to me, things like finding one's identity as a minority citizen who is fully a part of the majority culture, or the shift in culture between immigrant parents and assimilated children. The movie takes on these issues in such a subtle way that you are hardly even aware they are present. In fact, you just see these two characters as regular American guys. And that in itself is kind of remarkable; you don't see ethnic characters often portrayed as normal, everyday, average joe types. Don't get me wrong, this movie isn't some grand statement on race in America; it won't change your life or anything. But there's more to it than meets the eye. Thumbs up from me.

Viewed: 8/8/2004 | Released: 5/19/2004 | Score: B

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