Harold and Kumar get very, very stoned. They decide to go to White Castle to eat some yummy little hamburgers. It's a bit of a drive to White Castle.

Getting there is half the fun.

A stoner road trip that celebrates weed and sex as offensively as possible, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle looks to be the gross-out comedy of the summer.

And it has way more going for it than the usual disgusting diarrhea scenes or childish close-ups of gross, pus-leaking facial boils -- although those de rigueur comedy elements are certainly not ignored.

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle also has plenty of racist and sexist humour, bad language, idiotic events, unlikely characters, obnoxious behaviour and lots and lots of marijuana. It is hugely childish in every way.

The film has an overall air of glee that makes it a pleasure to laugh at, but the main draw would be Harold and Kumar themselves, boisterously played by John Cho and Kal Penn.

Harold (Cho) has a real job and Kumar (Penn) works at being stoned whenever possible.

Their car trip to find a White Castle burger outlet takes these guys through the state of New Jersey and into all kinds of bizarre trouble. They encounter a truckload of rednecks, crazed cops, a wild cheetah, various naughty girls, a sex-crazed hitchhiker (Neil Patrick Harris. No -- really -- Doogie Howser), a gunshot victim and a hideous tow-truck driver named Freakshow, who turns out to be Christopher Meloni with face latex.

(Various actors -- Anthony Anderson, Ryan Reynolds, Dov Tiefenbach -- have cameo appearances in the film.)

What makes Harold And Kumar so good is their demented selves -- you'll love the characters. Kumar is a wiseacre smart guy, a doctor's son who likes to believe he's a rebel. Harold is more soft-spoken and shy, but he gains courage before the night is over. Both men do.

Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle could be read as an immigrant parable, if you really want to stretch it, but mostly it's hilarious and essentially harmless entertainment.

Near the end, Kumar decides their long, strange night of chaos on the way to White Castle is really all about the American Dream. And it is, in a funny kind of way.

A very funny kind of way.

(This film is rated 14-A)

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