Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Courtesy of Kingsgate Films [Click to enlarge]

In 2004 Harold and Kumar went to White Castle. On April 25 the stakes will be raised significantly. This day marks the theatrical release of the sequel, "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."

"We didn't want to do the same type of thing the second time around," writer Jon Hurwitz said of this sequel. Unlike in the first movie when there were no stakes, in the second movie the stakes are at their highest. Instead of Harold and Kumar going on a journey to eat their favorite hamburgers, Harold and Kumar go on a journey to regain their very freedom.

Jon Hurwitz, and co-writer Hayden Schlossberg, said that the events in "Escape from Guantanamo Bay" begin just minutes after the end of the first movie. The two said they liked that sort of thing in '80s movies like "Rocky" and "Back to the Future" where the sequels picked up where the first movies left off, and they wanted to include it in "Harold and Kumar."

As "Escape from Guantanamo Bay" begins Harold and Kumar, played by John Cho and Kal Penn, are found in their apartment, having just returned from White Castle. They are preparing for their trip to Amsterdam. A short while later, on the plane-ride to Amsterdam, their bong is confused with a bomb, they are confused with terrorists, arrested and taken to Guantanamo Bay, where their new journey really begins.

Hurwitz said that his and Schlossberg's preparation for creating this movie has been their love of comedy. "We've been huge comedy fans our entire lives," Hurwitz said. Some of the comedies he said he's really enjoyed were South Park, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The State.

Neil Patrick Harris, like in the first Harold and Kumar movie, will be playing a twisted version of himself, which stands in stark contrast with the expectations people might have of him who know him from his earlier role as the lovable child-doctor, Doogie Howser.

Schlossberg said, "Being typecast as a character is like being stereotyped as a race," and he said that's why they brought in Harris.

Challenging stereotypes is actually one of the undertones of the movie. John Cho is Asian and Kal Penn is Indian. Stereotypes are often used for comedic effect in various forms of entertainment, but here John Cho is not playing a pizza-delivery guy and Kal Penn is not playing a convenience-store attendant. Harold and Kumar are regular, intelligent guys, and the ones who do the stereotyping are the butt of the jokes.

Schlossberg said that his and Hurwitz's approach to the movie was that "it has to be really funny, and it has to deal with stereotypes in an interesting way."

In the theme of deviating from stereotypes, Hurwitz said, "Expect to see some crazy stuff from Neil Patrick Harris in this next movie."

Of hamburgers, Cho said that he's not a big aficionado, and of White Castle burgers, Cho said, "They're alright."

Schlossberg said, "If it's important to you that the movie is good, then you'll like this movie."

Jesse Fernandez can be reached at jfernandez@statehornet.com

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