A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas

"Christmas comes prematurely."

2011 1h 30m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 1,098

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Six years have elapsed since Guantanamo 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.

“Christmas comes prematurely.”

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Cast

John Cho
Harold Lee
Kal Penn
Kumar Patel
Paula Garcés
Maria
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Elias Koteas
Sergie Katsov
Danneel Ackles
Vanessa Fanning
Thomas Lennon
Todd
Jake Johnson
Jesus

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Writers: Hayden Schlossberg, Jon Hurwitz, Robin Ator
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

90 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 15 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Part of the "Harold & Kumar Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, shot by Michael Barrett. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by William Ross. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Eric Kissack shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John Cho and Kal Penn and Paula Garcés carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Christmas comes prematurely.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Todd Strauss-Schulson directs. Michael Barrett behind the camera. William Ross scores. Eric Kissack cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Released 15 years ago.
3Part of the "Harold & Kumar Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, shot by Michael Barrett. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by William Ross. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Eric Kissack shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7John Cho and Kal Penn and Paula Garcés carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Christmas comes prematurely.".
9IMDB entry: tt1268799 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 12 themes, including "holiday", "beer", "christmas tree", "road trip".
11Released under 19 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Michael Barrett
Original score: William Ross
Editing: Eric Kissack
Production design: Rusty Smith
Costume design: Mary Claire Hannan
Makeup / hair: Greg Nicotero
Runtime: 90 min · 1h 30m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $19,000,000
Box office: $36,192,775
Return: 190% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011)

Part of

Harold & Kumar Collection

An American stoner comedy film series starring John Cho (Harold) and Kal Penn (Kumar).

Also by

Todd Strauss-Schulson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Kamurai2020-10-18
★ 5/10
Decent watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend unless you're just dying for more Harold and Kumar. The movie feels very forced. A buddy adventure, like the first two movies made sense, but a "reconnection through adversity" trope feels tired and it seems to take a lot, to include new buddy teams and cross competition just to get them to a point where their buddy adventure high jinks can start and we get some nostalgia for the previous movies. The Neil Patrick Harris bit feels super problematic, though it is HIM doing it so I guess it is okay. It's a "Harold and Kumar" adventure in a movie about moving away from "Harold and Kumar adventures" towards something about responsibilities and putting family first.
Filipe Manuel Neto2023-06-02
★ 2/10
It has quality, it has several interesting points to observe, but it has a stupid humor that is completely lost by the message it conveys about drugs and sex. I saw this movie on television by mere chance, just now, and I confess that I didn't like it. It is in fact a light film, it has some good scenes and moments, it even has several quality points as I will discriminate, but if we think about it, its style of humor, based almost entirely on jokes about sex, use of all kinds of drugs and such, spoils everything. I know there are people who like these easy laugh comedies, but I'm far from being one of them. Kal Penn and John Cho give life to the main characters, who they already know very well because it is the third film in this franchise (which I haven't seen and, after this, I won't see it). The film also introduces us to Danny Trejo, Paula Garcés, Richard Riehle and Danneel Ackles, to name just a few supporting actors in this film. The actors are doing what they can with the material at hand, I think that's one of the redeeming values of this film, but there's not much they can do when the material is intentionally bad and still makes money. On a technical level, what I liked the most were the stop-motion animations that appear in a given situation in which the protagonists are stoned. It was a quality asset, and using it was creative and original, even though the film isn't worth our time and money. The settings are also good, especially Cho's house, overloaded with decorations and Christmas lights to the point of being cheesy, thus evidencing the lack of taste of its owner, a drug addict of Korean descent who simply gets rich. The soundtrack also deserves a positive note, if only for its work with the classic songs of the season. As you can see, the film had the potential to be very interesting and was only lost by its lewd humor, the vile, absolutely despicable jokes, and the film's total obsession with sex and drugs. What was the target audience for this crap? Drug addicts and sex maniacs? A bunch of teenagers without any brains to think? Let's be honest: on the one hand, the film conveys the idea that Harold and Kumar (the junkies on duty, that is, the main characters) are totally irresponsible, immature and unworthy of being considered for a serious matter. This is a positive message because indeed drug users and sex addicts are despicable, irresponsible, unworthy of being considered mature or trustworthy. And I emphasize: marijuana, whatever the name you want to give it, is a drug and its consumption is addictive and leads to crime and death. It's an addiction like any other. However, on the other hand, and despite the fact that the film gives us this positive message, it also makes an apology for consumption! What do we see? People who have fun and laugh when they're high, even if they do stupid things! But drugs are like alcohol and all other addictions: at that moment it seems like a good idea, but in exchange for these moments, we sell our soul.