by Scott Batchelor, Contributing Writer
The Man from Toronto takes a mistaken identity trope and mixes it with a buddy comedy. At this point in cinema history, it is not always about presenting a new idea as much as it is about the execution. Here, we have the unique pairing of Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson. Hart plays the role of down-on-his-luck entrepreneur, and Harrelson plays a hired hitman often tasked with extracting information for some undisclosed bad people. Nothing about this screams original, so our stars are then tasked with making this worth a watch. For a movie released only on Netflix, I think you know what kind of quality you are going to get.
We open with a quick montage of Teddy Jackson (Hart) coming up with various fitness products that actually already exist, like fitness bands and pull up bars. It is actually kind of confusing what they are going for. Teddy is painted as an inept salesman with ridiculous ideas like contactless boxing (which becomes a running joke), but we are never shown if it is because his ideas are terrible or he just doesn’t know how to sell. Either way, it is not all that important because Teddy quickly drops any character development anyway, and mostly just plays Kevin Hart. This is a common issue for actors like Hart — most films he stars in does not give him enough to really be a character; rather, they just put Kevin Hart in a movie and he reacts in Kevin Hart ways. For right now though, this works. Hart is charming and endearing enough that we have not yet hit Hart over-saturation.
Next, we are introduced to The Man from Toronto (Harrelson), or Toronto for short. He has the pleasure of giving us a monologue that just so happens to be his origin story, so that is taken care of quickly, and does not leave any mystery for the rest of the movie. Toronto tells his soon-to-be victim all the gruesome techniques he is going to employ to get the information he was paid to collect. The victim quickly gives up what Toronto is looking for and moves on without spilling any blood. This is of course all to make us sympathize with this psycho. If we never see him hurt someone who doesn’t deserve it, it makes it easier for us to root for him when he makes his turn.
The plot starts to move forward when Teddy takes his wife Lori (Jasmine Mathews) to a cabin in Virginia, but because he is too cheap to replace the toner in the printer, he misread the address and ends up at the wrong cabin where he is mistaken for the legendary Man from Toronto. This movie only happens because of toner. Just wanted to make sure we are clear on how this movie moves the story forward. The FBI quickly steps in, and due to a series of unfortunate events, Teddy now has to play the role of being The Man From Toronto. Teddy is tasked with fooling a Venezuelan Colonel to McGuffin some McGuffin so they need this to happen for plot reasons. It is in these scenes where Hart is able to shine and do his schtick. While the situations he finds himself in are unbelievable, Hart sells them through his performance. Sadly the same can’t be said for Harrelson.
This is the type of role that audiences love: an older actor past the traditional action star phase getting to show that they can still go. Bob Odenkirk in Nobody has shown how well audiences respond to it. We can buy Harrelson being a cold blooded killer here because we love the actor and just want to see him, simply put, be cool! But Harrelson is a bit too cool in this role. Almost like he doesn’t want to be here. The character of Toronto spends the whole movie annoyed that he missed out on a giant payday and has to play along with the charade of Teddy taking his place. But even the line readings come off as being annoyed. There are spots in this movie where Toronto is sincere, but I have trouble buying them. I enjoyed both lead actors, but it seems only Hart gave any effort.
Now teaming with the FBI, Teddy is whisked away to Washington D.C. I would like to tell you where this movie takes place, but it moves all over the place, and for no reason. We start off in Yorktown, then Virginia, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, back to D.C. then we end in Yorktown. But we don’t really explore any of these locations! The scenes in Puerto Rico all take place in some sort of tech company inside what looks like a banquet hall. There does not seem to be any discernible reason for why our duo traversed around the world, as we don’t actually see the location’s beauty. And it may not be such an issue if they didn’t move settings so often. The movie practically shouts at you whenever they move to a new location, but it amounts to nothing interesting.
As the movie progresses, the story beats continue to be predictable and paint-by-numbers. Toronto begins to get soft and open up a bit. Teddy struggles with his shortcomings about his career and wants to be a better husband to his wife. Like I have mentioned, you’ve seen this done elsewhere. This script feels like it was written for the actors rather than the story. This has become a growing trend in Netflix movies. You have some good names attached to these projects that are released and forgotten about.
There is one major highlight that easily makes this a slight recommendation: the fight at the end of this movie. Toronto’s Handler (Ellen Barkin) calls in a number of hitmen to take out her rogue asset, which results in a lengthy, beautifully shot brawl. Although it is a bit rushed to get to the climax, it makes this whole movie worth watching. Shot to make it look like a oner, it is fast paced, but not in a way that makes you nauseous. You can clearly see where the cuts are, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. Both Teddy and Toronto are entertaining in ways that fit their characters. Even though Teddy is not a fighter, he pulls his weight to add to enjoyment of the fight.
I decided to check out The Man from Toronto because it seemed innocuous enough, and I thought maybe I could get some enjoyment out of it. I enjoy both Hart and Harrelson enough, but some of the jokes are unoriginal and telegraphed, resulting in a flat punchline. It really shines when Hart is able to just riff to Harrelson’s straight man. Harrelson gets some jokes, but this is a pairing you’ve seen before — fish out of water trying to survive while the tough guy who hates everyone finds his new friend charming enough to change everything about himself. There is nothing wrong or bad about this movie, but it brings nothing new. It is a perfectly average movie that has a stellar fight scene to send me home happy, and it has enough for me to say you should at least give this a watch on a weekend afternoon.
Score: 6/10
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