"Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" mixes the elements of a stoner comedy with the straight man/funny man comedy team that goes back to "Abbott and Costello". Harold (John Cho) is the straight man who begins the film on a quest to follow his dream girl to Amsterdam (this is where "White Castle" left off). Kumar (Kal Penn) is his stoner best friend who never lets good sense get in the way of getting high. When Kumar sneaks a bong onto the Amsterdam flight, it is mistaken for a bomb and the boys end up in Guantanamo Bay. The "escape" of the title happens very quickly and the movie becomes a road comedy as Harold and Kumar go on a quest to clear their names. The movie is definitely low brow humor and very politicaly incorrect. For the most part, however, it is actually very funny. As in their first film, they run into Neil Patrick Harris (playing himself), who is ironically portayed as a voracious womanizer with a taste for drugs and alcohol. Also, as in the first one, Harris' over-the-top portrayal of himself steals the movie. In his limited time on screen, he is brilliantly funny. Harold and Kumar are also being pursued by an incredibly racist, overzealous Homeland Security agent (Rob Cordrry) who is also very funny, even if his character is a borderline cartoon character. Cho and Penn have great chemistry and have great potential to be a long-standing comic duo. The only problem with the movie is that it starts to drag a little toward the end. There is a scene where they actually meet George W. Bush (James Adomian) which could have been very funny, except that it goes on way too long and has the worst makeup job I ever remember. Toward the end, there is a wrap-up sequence that is only a few minutes but felt like it went on and on. It's a funny movie, overall, and I laughed a lot. It just fell slightly short.Grade: C+
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