Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

I'm convinced that the Harold & Kumar films are the only comedies that I'm able to forgive for their occasional tendency to overdo the toilet humor. Normally, that's a complete turn-off because it feels like a cheap, easy resort to get laughs out of the audience. Although this happens in Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, I'm sort of able to let it slide, just like I did with the original, because they make up for that weakness with the often pointed comedic insights that are aimed mostly at issues of racial bias.

There's an especially funny scene that is also the kind of scene that we shouldn't laugh at, but we do anyway, in which two Jewish guys are "tempted" by emptying a bag of coins right in front of them. It's humor in the Borat fashion, because we know how WRONG it is to find it funny, but it's tough not to laugh. Speaking of that, I suppose Borat is yet another example of a movie that at times veers in the toilet humor direction, yet makes up for it with comedic insight in other scenes.

In addition to the focus on racial issues throughout most of the film's gags, there's another element that the filmmakers aim their arrows at, and that is the question of how fair/effective the U.S. government is. From the trailer, it should be pretty easy for you to guess what the film's position is, seeing as the title characters are sent to the prison in Guantanamo Bay for bringing a bong on an airplane, and are immediately identified as "North Korea and Al Qaeda working together" because of their ethnicities (even though Kumar is Indian, not Middle Eastern, but they're obviously addressing the fact that many people can't tell the difference). The film depicts Ron Fox (Rob Corddry) as an asshole who immediately concludes that this means that North Korea and Al Qaeda are working together, and who "tempts" the Jewish guys with a bag of coins, and who even wipes his rear end with the Bill of Rights to show just how much he gives a shit (no pun intended) about the Fifth Amendment.

Obviously, this reflects that the filmmakers view the U.S. government as being monstrously close-minded and not really as committed to the values of democracy as it claims to be, which is why I was surprised by the interesting helping of irony we get once George W. Bush (played here by James Adomian) makes his appearance. Shock of all shocks, he's portrayed in a pretty positive light. Sure, he gets high with Harold and Kumar, but his character ends up making some pretty insightful remarks about how the President would LIKE to do things such as legalizing drugs, but he can't because he's constrained by certain things and people (one suspects the real George W. Bush would never be able to speak so insightfully). This leads to a very funny moment in which Bush, Jr. calls his father to tell him he's not gonna let him boss him around anymore. I just find it incredible that, considering how much of a consensus there is in terms of the negative view of the current U.S. President, the film actually pulls off putting the guy on a positive light here, even getting you to sympathize with the character. Heck, at the end of the sequence, Harold and Kumar say "Mr. President, you're awesome!" If President Bush wants an accolade like that, this film may be the only place in which he'll ever hear it.

But seriously, it takes balls to make a comedy that features an old lady who pictures a guy dressed up as a Muslim joking about the plane crashing by making a "falling plane" hand movement. I suspect this wouldn't have been kosher 5 or 6 years ago when 9/11 was still fresh in people's minds... yes, people do move on and stop thinking about even monumental tragedies like 9/11, as much as they say they never will. If they didn't move on, then you wouldn't be able to have a scene like this in a movie and have at least some people find it funny. I'll admit that I laughed at it, but that doesn't mean that I don't think 9/11 is a serious matter (it'd obviously be ridiculous to think otherwise). It also takes balls to make a comedy that ends up putting someone like Bush on a positive light; they could've easily resorted to a full-on negative parody, like plenty other movies and comedy shows have done, so they certainly get points for originality there.

I feel like my review has been way too serious for a film like this one, but don't let that fool you because Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is indeed a funny movie. A few botched jokes and the continuing tendency to overdo the toilet humor keep it from greatness and from stealing Forgetting Sarah Marshall's spot as the best comedy currently in theaters, but if you're looking for a "dumb" comedy that still delivers smarts in all its silliness, then this should work just fine.

6/10