--- title: "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/harold-and-kumar-go-to-white-castle/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/harold-and-kumar-go-to-white-castle" critics_score: 68 critics_reviews: 8 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004): what the critics said Critics' score 68 from 8 reviews: 3 positive, 5 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics like it, and none dislike it outright: three positive reviews, five mixed, nobody negative. The praise clusters on the jokes, which several reviewers find funnier and more inventive than the usual gross-out stoner comedy, and on John Cho and Kal Penn, who are repeatedly described as a well-matched pair. Variety calls them a perfectly matched comic duo, and the film’s playful, pointed treatment of racism is counted as a strength by more than one critic. The reservations are about evenness and familiarity. The Guardian finds dull stretches between the horribly funny moments; Empire thinks the toilet humour holds back a warmer, richer comedy; Slant Magazine, the lowest score, finds it hard to tell apart from earlier stoner films and is troubled by the White Castle promotion and the handling of Asian stereotypes. The spread is moderate rather than wide, from one outright rave to a shrug, and two reviews could not be fully read, so the picture is incomplete. ## Time Out — DA Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 April 2008. The critic calls the stoner comedy one of the funniest films they have seen in years. The visible text singles out its humor for praise. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/harold-kumar-go-to-white-castle) ## Variety — Robert Koehler Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 20 June 2004. Festival review. Koehler finds the comedy energetic, clever, and more inventive than a conventional gross-out film. He especially praises John Cho and Kal Penn as a perfectly matched comic duo. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2004/film/reviews/harold-kumar-go-to-white-castle-1200532723/) ## IndieWire — eug Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 28 July 2004. The critic finds the film very funny despite its lack of political correctness. The review singles out the outrageous encounters along Harold and Kumar’s burger-seeking adventure as a source of comedy. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general/harold-kumar-pretty-damn-funny-176863/) ## Screen Daily — Andy Bailey Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 27 July 2004. The page identifies this as a review, but its criticism is hidden behind a paywall. No verdict or specific praise or complaint is visible in the available text. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/harold-and-kumar-go-to-white-castle/4019542.article) ## The New York Times Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 30 July 2004. The page could not be read, so the critic’s verdict cannot be established. Its headline suggests a focus on the film’s treatment of stereotypes, but the review’s specific praise or complaints are unavailable. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/30/movies/film-review-in-search-of-a-burger-demolishing-stereotypes.html) ## Empire — Damon Wise Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. Wise finds the comedy warm, inventive and often hysterical, but says it is held back by toilet humour and falls short of its promise. He particularly praises its richer characters and its playful treatment of racism. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/harold-kumar-get-munchies-review/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 4 March 2005. Bradshaw finds the comedy uneven, with stretches of dullness offset by horribly funny moments. He praises Kumar’s fantasy involving a human-sized bag of weed as an inspired gag. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,4267,1429731,00.html) ## Slant Magazine — Nick Schager Rating 2/4. 25 July 2004. Schager finds the comedy occasionally amusing but ultimately unsatisfying and largely indistinguishable from earlier stoner comedies. He singles out its shameless promotion of White Castle and troubling handling of Asian stereotypes. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/harold-and-kumar-go-to-white-castle/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/harold-and-kumar-go-to-white-castle.md