by SCOTT C and CHRIS BARRY

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle

In the tradition of movies like Road Trip and Orange County, the stoners who came up with the idea for Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle were probably canned out of their minds when they came up with this script. John Cho (American Pie) and Kal Penn (Malibu's Most Wanted) play two bumbling idiots who go on the hunt for the perfect meal after some heavy Friday night weed smoke. Harold, a Korean American investment banker, plays straight-man to the fast-talking Kumar, an Indian-American medical school hopeful trying to stay on the family-funded gravy train.

While we all know you'd have to be stoned to start fantasizing about White Castle burgers anyway, Harold and Kumar's ridiculous escapades are firmly built around an undying need to complete their late-night quest for fast food. Although it may seem like you've seen this movie before, Cho and Penn are able to pull off this smoke-filled caper with laughable results, making viewers wish they had stopped to inhale before walking into the theatre.

Directed by Danny Leiner of Dude, Where's My Car? fame, there are some familiar faces here that round out the foolishness, namely Fred Willard, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Neil Patrick Harris as a cracked-out version of himself. Apart from being one big crazy commercial for White Castle (a commercial that will bring them lots of red-eyed customers, I might add), Harold and Kumar have proven that you don't have to be some blue-eyed surfer/jock to get high and get into unbelievable situations on film. (SC)

Intimate Strangers

If you're a fan of French cinema, you should definitely check out mucho celebrated director Patrice Leconte's latest flick. If not, expect to be bored silly. Personally, I tend to fall somewhere in the middle with respect to both Leconte's work and modern French filmmaking in general. Yeah, you've got to appreciate the way those freedom hatin', Saddam lovin' Commies frame a shot every once in awhile, and take your hat off to 'em for the courage to regularly mess with traditional narrative structure. But at the same time, I can't remember the last time I saw a movie from France that was as good as it thought it was. Intimate Strangers (Confidences trop intimes) is no exception.

Henry Winkler look-a-like Fabrice Luchini is a middle-aged, slightly anal retentive tax attorney who enters into a complex relationship with Sandrine Bonnaire, a woman who walks into his office one day believing Luchini is a psychologist and promptly starts yacking about her sex life. Bored and neglected emotionally by his current girlfriend, he goes along with the charade for awhile and, surprise, surprise, soon becomes infatuated with Bonnaire. Yet that's it as far as predictability is concerned.

One of the great strengths of Intimate Strangers is its subtlety. You never really know where the thing is heading, and the motivation behind Bonnaire's character remains pleasantly ambiguous throughout the entire ordeal. This makes for an interesting, nicely shot, generally well-acted movie, and in true French fashion, it's primarily dialogue driven. Damn, there's even an undercurrent of black humour running through it. Vaguely reminiscent of Hitchcock, albeit nowhere near as intriguing or clever, Intimate Strangers requires some patience but ultimately delivers. It still isn't as good as it thinks it is though. (CB)

Harold And Kumar Go to White Castle and Intimate Strangers open Friday, July 30

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