Taglines: Christmas comes prematurely.
Six years have elapsed since Guantanemo Bay, leaving Harold and Kumar estranged from one another with very different families, friends and lives. But when Kumar arrives on Harold’s doorstep during the holiday season with a mysterious package in hand, he inadvertently burns down Harold’s father-in-law’s beloved Christmas tree. To fix the problem, Harold and Kumar embark on a mission through New York City to find the perfect Christmas tree, once again stumbling into trouble at every single turn.
“Harold and Kumar” comedy picks up six years after the duo’s last adventure. After years of growing apart, Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) have replaced each other with new friends and are preparing for their respective Yuletide celebrations. But when a mysterious package mistakenly arrives at Kumar’s door on Christmas Eve, his attempt to redirect it to Harold’s house ends with the “high grade” contents—and Harold’s father-in-law’s prize Christmas tree— going up in smoke. With his in-laws out of the house for the day, Harold decides to cover his tracks, rather than come clean. Reluctantly embarking on another ill-advised journey with Kumar through New York City, their search for the perfect replacement tree almost blows Christmas Eve sky high.
About the Production
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas” Every time-honored Christmas tradition is turned on its mistletoe, Harold and Kumar style, in their new holiday misadventure. “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” and “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” took on race and politics. Completing the trifecta of taboo subjects, this go-round they’re tackling religion, specifically the glory of Christmas.
Todd Strauss-Schulson, who makes his feature film directorial debut, offers, “It’s like Harold and Kumar are hijacking a Christmas movie. It looks like a Christmas movie and has the form and aesthetic of a Christmas movie, but the content is irreverent and constantly pushes the envelope. That juxtaposition was an exciting contrast for me.” “What makes it a Harold & Kumar Christmas,” adds Kal Penn, who returns in the role of the slacker Kumar, “is an incredible amount of heart and incredible amount of inappropriateness. You’re used to seeing heart in a holiday movie…inappropriateness, not so much.”
John Cho, who reprises his role as Harold, the more uptight half of this odd couple, notes, “Making a Harold & Kumar movie is always fun and it’s always outrageous. Even though the films draw a line further out than most, they also have a surprisingly earnest and innocent attitude towards everything, which makes them weirdly lovable. And we are following Christmas movie rules. At first glance anyway.”
Greg Shapiro, who has produced all the Harold & Kumar films, says, “After going to White Castle and escaping from Guantanamo Bay, celebrating the joy of Christmas seemed the next logical step for Harold and Kumar. It was either that or going on a space adventure to the moon. I think we made the right choice.”
Screenwriters Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who have written all three films, also serve as co-producers on the third. They relished the opportunity to skewer every Christmas icon from the ridiculous to the sublime. Hurwitz remarks, “We loved the idea of capturing the fuzzy feeling of a typical holiday movie, while still maintaining the Harold & Kumar style.”
Neil Patrick Harris, who returns as the inimitable NPH—surprisingly full of life since Harold and Kumar last saw him—adds, “These cinetime are so random and so preposterous; you never know what’s going to happen. It’s quite the ride.”
Schlossberg allows, “Our protagonists are as nice and as normal as people you’d find in any holiday movie, yet they get into crazy, insane, balls-out situations. That’s the fun of it. We give every wholesome Christmas symbol the Harold & Kumar treatment.”
Nothing is sacred, or spared, as Harold and Kumar roll through various vignettes with disaster on their heels. Harold and Kumar get right to the merry mayhem at the outset of the film, when Kumar inadvertently sets Harold’s Christmas tree on fire—and not just any tree, but the one home grown by Harold’s already disapproving father-in-law.
Now the two old friends are rejoined in a singular mission: to find a replacement tree before Harold’s father-in-law gets home and roasts Harold’s chestnuts. Easier said than done. Especially when Harold and Kumar haven’t seen each other in two years… and each has a new best friend. But, in the spirit of Christmas, the real present under this tree may be the rekindling of their friendship.
A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas
Directed by: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Starring: Neil Patrick Harris, Danny Trejo, John Cho, Kal Penn, Danneel Harris, Elias Koteas, Paula Garces
Screenplay by: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
Production Design by: Rusty Smith
Cinematography by: Michael Barrett
Film Editing by: Eric Kissack
Set Decoration by: Selina van den Brink
Costume Design by: Mary Claire Hannan
Art Direction by: Ramsey Avery, Guy Barnes
Music by: William Ross
MPAA Rating: R for strong crude and sexual content, graphic nudity, pervasive language, drug use and some violence.
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: November 4, 2011
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