Full disclosure: I have never seen any of the Cheech and Chong movies. (Did you know there were 15 of them? Fifteen.) I do not partake of the marijuana and therefore, I never thought my interest would lie in the so-called “stoner comedy.”
My lack of engagement extends to everyone’s new favorite crunk cowboys: Harold and Kumar. The duo is back with their third film, “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.” Apparently, this movie picks up where the last (Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay) left off, but rest assured, the plot is certainly not deep enough for all you newbies to concern yourselves. At least I didn’t.
Lights up on Kumar. He’s getting high. Shocker. Flash across the city to Harold, a now clean-cut corporate suit with a hot wife and his very own McMansion. We sense that a wedge has come between the two pals, but destiny – or some other magical force – has conspired to reunite them with one enormous...wait for it...joint.
For those of you in the know, that last sentence was a small nod to the film’s biggest celebrity: Broadway darling, pop culture icon and “How I Met Your Mother” star, Neil Patrick Harris. Truth be told, I spent the entire front half of the flick waiting for him to make his entrance, and boy, he does not disappoint. As always, his performance is pitch perfect, and I thank him for injecting a little life into a slow second act.
Anyway, back to the joint: Naturally, the doobie proves to be a Pandora’s box of sorts, triggering a series of unfortunate events involving Christmas trees, Russian gangsters and a killer, waffle-making robot. (Obviously.)
Hats off to the creative team that decided to make this shenanigan-centric feature in 3-D. Typically, I loathe 3-D and deeply resent every filmmaker who forces me to wear those wretched glasses, just so that the trees appear closer. Lame.
But director Todd Strauss-Schulson treats the novelty with the cheekiness it deserves.
“3-D? Hasn’t that jumped the shark?” Harold quips at the top of the film. And as eggs, drugs and several bodily fluids leapt off the screen, I laughed. I laughed because it reminded me of the 3-D days of yore, when the only 3-D anything was a muppet movie at the MGM theme park in Orlando, Fla.
Harold and Kumar made 3-D silly again, and that campy stylization sets the tone for the entire experience.
“A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas” may not make the classic list alongside “A Christmas Story” or “It’s a Wonderful Life,” but it’s certainly a funny and welcome way to kick off this holiday season.
Catch it at:
* AMC Tilghman 8 in South Whitehall at ‎3 p.m., ‎5:15‎ p.m. and ‎8 p.m.
* The Rave at the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley at ‎12:15‎ p.m., ‎1:15‎ p.m., ‎4:15‎ p.m., ‎5:15‎ p.m., ‎7:15‎ p.m., ‎8:15‎ p.m., ‎9:30‎ p.m. and ‎10:30 p.m‎.
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