Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
Completely ignored by virtually everyone (myself included) when it arrived in theaters in 2004, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle has gone on to become one of the most beloved comedies of this new century and for good reason: it’s freakin’ hysterical. A potent mixture of dumb stoner humor, insightful social commentary, crowd-pleasing pratfalls and what-the-hell-was-that-about? non-sequiters, the first H&K flick offers a lasting buzz few studio comedies are able to provide these days. A lot of credit for this goes to the movie’s stars, Kal Penn and John Cho, who play wild man med student Kumar Patel and uptight numbers-cruncher Harold Lee respectively. The actors’ careers have blown up since the first movie (Penn currently stars on the hit Fox series House, while Cho landed the plum part of Mr. Sulu in the new Star Trek blockbuster), so I was a little nervous going into the sequel that they wouldn’t be able to recapture the magic of their White Castle adventure. And, to be honest, the first 20 minutes of Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay didn’t do a whole lot to convince me otherwise. Directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who wrote the original film and penned the sequel as well, the movie gets off to an extremely rough start as our favorite stoners head off to Amsterdam via a jumbo jet to reunite with Harold’s new girlfriend. Halfway across the Atlantic though, Kumar’s pot paraphernalia gets him in trouble with nervous passengers, who become convinced that this brown-skinned Indian is actually a Muslim terrorist intent on blowing the plane to smithereens. Enter overzealous Homeland Security agent Ron Fox (Rob Corddry, late of The Daily Show), who wastes no time throwing these “ethnic types” in Guantanamo Bay prison, where they are threatened with all manner of sexual humiliation. Sounds like a funny idea, but this section of the movie gets bogged down in too much frat-boy “Dude, I’m not gay!” humor. Fortunately, Harold and Kumar bust out of Guantanamo fairly quickly and make their way back to the U.S. where the real comedy begins. Leading the authorities on a wild chase through the South, from Florida to Texas, the duo bump into the Ku Klux Klan, the monstrous offspring of two hillbilly siblings and, best of all, Neil Patrick Harris on a ‘shroom-fueled rampage. Every scene with NPH is comic gold and the filmmakers know it; compared to the relatively brief screen time the once and future Doogie had in the first film, here he’s practically the third lead. When he inevitably vanishes from the movie, the energy dips a bit, but ramps right back up as Harold and Kumar end up sharing a joint with–believe it or not–Dubya himself. As you can probably tell, political humor plays a bigger role in this film than in the original, but don’t think for a second that Penn and Cho have suddenly morphed into Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. Guantanamo Bay is pitched at the widest possible audience, which means that all the jabs at Bush and the War on Terror are pointed, but not overly mean or malicious. (Although the scene where Corddry literally wipes his ass with the Bill of Rights is pretty strong stuff.) In fact, I kind of wished that the movie were a little sharper in its satire; the writers are too willing to settle for the obvious gag when with just a little more refinement, they could have come up with something more daring and memorable. As for the leads, Penn and Cho turn out to be just as good, if not better, than they were in White Castle. Their comic chemistry carries the day, even when the script and direction falls short. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay may not make you think, but it will make you laugh. A whole hell of a lot.

Also In Theaters
Baby Mama
Harold and Kumar aren’t the only comedy duo invading theaters this weekend. Former Saturday Night Live co-stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler re-team for this maternity-themed laffer about a single businesswoman (Fey) who hires a foul-mouthed working class chick (Poehler) to be a surrogate mom for her offspring after she learns that she can’t have a baby herself. Greg Kinnear is Fey’s male love interest (although it would be funnier if the movie ended with her and Poehler hooking up, Ellen DeGeneres/Portia de Rossi-style) and Steve Martin appears in an unbilled cameo as one of her kookie employees. Much as I adore Fey on 30 Rock, this looks like a film that’s not quite ready for primetime at the multiplex. But in three months, it should make for a perfectly decent DVD rental.

Deception
Sneaking into theaters as if its ashamed of itself for even existing, this erotic thriller casts Ewan McGregor as a dorky accountant (yeah…that’s believable) who is introduced to a seamy world of exclusive sex clubs by his hotshot best friend (Hugh Jackman). Because he’s kind of slow, McGregor has no idea he’s being set up to take the fall for a crime he didn’t commit. The only person who can help him is a mysterious prostitute played by Michelle Williams, who most likely shot this role before her ex Heat Ledger passed away. It’s hard to imagine her wanting to make time with Ewan and Hugh during the grieving process.

Standard Operating Procedure
Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris is a national cinematic treasure, but his latest expose doesn’t rank amongst his best work. Standard Operating Procedure examines the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, in which American soldiers forced Iraqi inmates to pose in humiliating and painful positions while they took pictures. Although it’s fascinating to hear the accused—including Private Lynndie English, who appeared in some of the more infamous photos—recount events in their own words, the glacial pace and repetitious interviews render this important story curiously unengaging.

Tribeca Film Festival
The 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival kicked off in Manhattan two nights ago with the NYC premiere of Baby Mama and closes next Saturday with the star-studded debut of Speed Racer. In between these two major studio productions are wall-to-wall independent, foreign and experimental features and documentaries. Of the 121 films playing at the festival, some titles you should keep an eye out for are Elite Squad, Jose Padilha’s City of God-style portrait of a brutal Brazilian police team; Man on Wire a documentary about a daredevil who attempted to skywalk between the two World Trade Center towers in 1974; Before the Rains, a period drama set in 1930s India, before that nation gained its independence from Britain; and two basketball themed flicks, the documentary Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot, directed by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, and the fictional Ball Don’t Lie, starring Nick Cannon and Ludacris. Visit www.tribecafilmfestival.org for more information and to purchase tickets to screenings.