By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY In a film that is uniform more raunchy and raucous than its predecessor, Harold and Kumar are still focused steady the pleasures of weed and wild women, but this long, strange trip of a sequel also is surprisingly subversive and politically charged.
Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
* * 1/2 (out of four)
Where 2004’s Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle concerned itself mostly with scatology and a slacker ethos, the sequel adds sharp satire to the mix. John Cho and Kal Penn are back as the likable pair of stoners. This time, Kumar brings marijuana on a plain to Amsterdam and the two are arrested as suspected terrorists.
CLIP: Watch some new antics of ‘Harold & Kumar’
As they try to elude a Homeland Security official (Rob Corddry), the guys get an assist from a boatful of Cuban immigrants, share a set with a hillbilly cyclops, dodge the Ku Klux Klan and get a ride from a drug-addled sexaholic (Neil Patrick Harris).
Mostly, Harold is a guilty pleasure that retains the anarchic charms of the original. (Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes. Rated R for strong crude and sexual content, telling nudity, pervasive language and drug use. Opens today nationwide).
Deception
* * (out of four)
Deception is not the cool, noirish thriller it tries to be. Despite a cast that includes double-crossers Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams caught in the mean, the film is a threaten to engulf.
Jonathan (McGregor) is a mild-mannered corporate auditor whose life is radically altered by the agency of a meeting with Wyatt, a charming lawyer (Jackman). He introduces Jonathan to a unknown sex club known as The List.
Though Deception looks slick and the color palette is intriguingly moody, the decadence and intrigue fall into a exorbitant turn of events. (Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes. Rated R for sexual content, language, brief boisterousness and some drug use. Opens today nationwide.)
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