Combining the outrageous comic sensibilities of American Pie with the wild open-road adventures of Road Trip, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle takes the buddy comedy genre to mind-altering new highs.

Harold Lee (John Cho) is stuck in a low-level investment banking job, overworked and definitely under-appreciated by his colleagues, who aren’t shy about handing off their own work for him to finish over the weekend. To make matters worse, he can’t find the courage to talk to his pretty neighbor (Paula Garces) from down the hall at home.

While Harold toils away, his best friend, Kumar Patel (Kal Penn), is doing everything he can to avoid the real world, valiantly upholding his carefree partying ways while making half-hearted attempts to gain admittance to medical school and follow in his family’s footsteps.

Seeking a break from their realities, these two likable underdogs unwind in front of their TV for a Friday night smoke-out session, which results in an incredible case of the “munchies.” Catching sight of a commercial for White Castle and their mouthwatering hamburgers, Harold and Kumar discover their true mission in life (or at least their mission for this one Friday night) – they must set out on an unbelievable all-night quest across their home state of New Jersey in search of a White Castle restaurant to satisfy their cravings.

What follows is a comic roller-coaster ride that takes the duo on a twisted tour of the Garden State – from its academic institutions to its scariest backwoods territories, from shady fast-food establishments to, just maybe…the holy grail of White Castles.

Along the way, Harold and Kumar meet an array of crazy characters (not to mention one rabid raccoon and an escaped cheetah on the run…) and overcome some outrageous obstacles. Bit with every step of the journey, they somehow manage to keep their eyes on the tasty prize – learning more than they bargained for about themselves and each other in the process.

John Cho (American Pie trilogy) and Kal Penn (Malibu’s Most Wanted) lead an accomplished cast that is peppered with a slew of hilarious cameos, including Neil Patrick Harris (Broadway’s “Assassins”) as himself, Fred Willard (A Mighty Wind) as an Ivy League recruiter, Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie) and David Krumholtz (Slums of Beverly Hills) as Harold and Kumar’s neighbors, Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder) as a male nurse and Christopher Meloni (TV’s “Law & Order S.V.U.”) as the bizarre Freakshow.

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle is directed by Danny Leiner, who previously helmed the hit comedy Dude, Where’s My Car? The producers are Greg Shapiro and Nathan Kahane. The executive producers are Joe Drake, Carsten Lorenz, Hanno Huth, J. David Brewington, Jr. and Luke Ryan. The co-producer is J. Miles Dale. The film was written by Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossburg.

New Line Cinema releases Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (rated R by the M.P.A.A. for “strong language, sexual content, drug use and some crude humor”) nationwide on July 30th, 2004.