Review of A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011) by Saad U — 07 Jun 2012

A surprise hit in my book.

I've never seen the Harold & Kumar installments so maybe that's why this 3rd iteration was an enjoyable one for me. It's everything you could expect from a flick like this: Grotesque, abidingly crude, and vulgarity that's thrown in your face; it's also a lot of fun.

This offensive flick throws a lot comedic punches that, most of the time, misses, but every now and then, it finds a haymaker comes from nowhere and results in laugh out loud laughter. I found myself getting lost in gleeful laughter and hooked into the simple but entertaining narrative. Yeah, the 3D formatting is blatantly thrown in, and yes, it isn't the most fantastically well-thought-out film, but it shamelessly embraces all of it, suspending all kinds of beliefs from all over. It's a raunchy movie that doesn't care how ridiculously over-the-top things can get; it's here to entertain. With such an audacious full-front assault towards it's repulsive personality, obviously I had my gripes with the film, but not for it's offensive behavior; this eccentric execution usually comes coupled with poor technicalities and a real poor respect towards the art of filmmaking. Plus, it's simply not my type of movie.

Nevertheless, "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas" took me by a wild surprise; my expectation was that equivalent to the more recent Van Wilder flicks. This is a profane caricature that draws its comedic value through its sarcastic outlook on everyday life. It's entertaining.