"A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas" — Pot smoke, mounds of coke and little, bitty Ecstasy pills. Urine, feces and semen. Topless nuns, stoned kids and a bloody Santa Claus. And of course, a singing and dancing Neil Patrick Harris. These are among the many things that get thrown at the wall here — sometimes literally. Very few of them stick. This third film in the "Harold & Kumar" franchise is inordinately jacked up with visual effects and peppy holiday music, but nothing can disguise the fact that this series has run out of steam, that the film's stars have outgrown the roles that made them famous. Yes, the use of 3-D is supergimmicky, but hey, at least director Todd Strauss-Schulson is consistent in staying with it the whole way through in making his first feature. By this point, John Cho's Harold and Kal Penn's Kumar have grown apart. A convoluted set of circumstances involving deflowering a virgin, finding the perfect Christmas tree and outsmarting Ukrainian mobsters creates the opportunity for these two old friends to reconcile. R for strong crude and sexual content, graphic nudity, pervasive language, drug use and some violence. 90 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
— Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic
__
"Tower Heist" — This is an ensemble, and a strong one at that, led by Ben Stiller, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck and Tea Leoni. But Brett Ratner's blast of an action comedy truly brings out the best in Eddie Murphy, something many of us may have forgotten even existed. Fast-talking, flummoxed and full of false bravado, Murphy gives a performance as a low-level thief that recalls his signature work in the movies that made him a superstar in the mid-1980s — like "48 Hours" and "Beverly Hills Cop." "Tower Heist" deflates a bit when Murphy's not around, but for the most part, Ratner's movie is slick and crowd-pleasing — even more successfully so than his "Rush Hour" films — and it couldn't be more relevant in exploring the disparity between the haves and have-nots. Stiller stars as Josh, the longtime manager of a luxury high-rise in Manhattan; it's actually the Trump International Hotel and Tower at Columbus Circle. When penthouse-dwelling financial guru Arthur Shaw is charged with stealing billions from his investors — including the hardworking tower staff — Josh comes up with a plan to steal their money back. Alda plays this Bernard Madoff figure with just the right mix of affability and sleaze. PG-13 for language and sexual content. 104 minutes. Three stars out of four.
— Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic