The Man from Toronto is a 2022 action comedy from director Patrick Hughes, from a screenplay by Robbie Fox and Chris Bremner, and a story by Jason Blumenthal. Hughes is no stranger to action comedies as he previously directed The Expendables 3 (2014), as well as the Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017), and Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021).

A case of mistaken identity arises after a screw-up sales consultant and the world’s deadliest assassin—known only as The Man from Toronto— run into each other at a holiday rental.

The cast includes Kevin Hart, Woody Harrelson, Kaley Cuoco, and Ellen Barkin.

The Man from Toronto made it’s debut on Netflix on June 24th, 2022.

THE GOOD

If you have been paying attention, Netflix has been absolutely churning out original content many of which have had a massive budget. Andrew has been on an absolute tear as far as original Netflix film reviews, including the action thriller The Gray Man (full review here), the sci-fi thriller Spiderhead (full review here), the animated action comedy The Sea Beast (full review here), and lastly the romance drama inspired by a Jane Austen novel Persuasion (full review here). So yeah, there is lots of content at your disposal regardless of audience or genre preference. Which brings me to the action comedy The Man from Toronto, a film that

I am admittedly quite late on watching and reviewing, but I beat Andrew to it so I will take all of the small victories I can get. This film was on my radar very early on too, but it felt like something my wife and I would both enjoy so I waited to try and watch it with her, but with two kids under the age of four, the reality set in that it was never going to happen. So I picked a night that the kids were finally asleep and the house was in decent working order and fired up what I hoped would be worth just shy of 2-hours of my relatively valuable time. So, was The Man from Toronto a swing and a miss for the streaming giant? Keep reading to find out!

Alright listen, action comedies serve a very specific purpose, and above all else that is to entertain. Are we expecting an elaborate screenplay or awe-inspiring cinematography? I mean no, not at all, sure those elements would be nice and all but that simply isn’t the reality with this genre especially when we are talking about a direct-to-streaming release. What I want is an enticing cast, and a fun premise that I can casually sink my teeth into, and with that being said, The Man From Toronto delivered as far as my expectations. I’m going to try and take a page out of Andrew’s playbook and focus on what drew me to this film in the first place, and that is without question the cast.

An action comedy starring Kevin Hart and my man Woody Harrelson who I have been obsessed with since the insane 1994 crime thriller Natural Born Killers, I mean lets go!! I know that Jason Statham was originally set to take on the role of the aforementioned “Man from Toronto”, but due to scheduling conflicts he had to back out and Harrelson was subsequently cast. Talk about a clutch pivot replacing a bald white guy with another less athletic but still highly sought after bald white guy. Great move casting team. Kevin Hart is clearly known for his comedic roles, and he seems to thrive when the actor playing opposite of him brings a certain level of raw intensity that he can play off of and Harrelson certainly does just that. Harrelson is a unique actor in many ways considering that he actually has some comedic chops to mix in with his ability to play a “serious” role, think Zombieland for example.

I realize I have strayed from the point I was trying to make, but the bottom line is Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson worked very well together. I loved how they played off each other, and as corny as the film often was as far as premise and believability, it all came together nicely and the fun factor remained in the green throughout. I enjoyed the backstories for both characters with Hart as a high-energy and personable guy trying to make it as an entrepreneur but failing at every turn with his ridiculous ideas, and Harrelson as a very regimented and extremely dangerous hitman.

In many ways the characters were similar to the original Ride Along in terms of dynamic, just replace Ice Cube with Harrelson. Hart was hilarious, and Harrelson was constantly trying to turn him into someone who is actually believable in the role of a hitman with a reputation similar to that of a Greek God, and it did not go well. Hart thrives in these fish-out-of-water type roles which allow him to utilize his outlandish comedy style he is so widely known for. Bottom line, the two leads had great chemistry which is the primary reason why The Man from Toronto worked so well and was never boring.

The film is carried by the leads, but still has a fun supporting cast to round things out. Jasmine Mathews plays Hart’s significant other, but she has a pretty small role along with Kaley Cuoco who plays her friend. Both were good here but aren’t given a ton of screen-time. I really enjoyed the character played by Jencarlos Canela as he helped to aide the comedic element along with Hart’s character. I also enjoyed Pierson Fode’s character who plays The Man from Miami, who is, yes you guessed it, a rival hitman who is from Miami. Fode, who is fairly unknown as an actor, seems to be gaining some traction after this role which is nice to see. Fode also played a small role in a few episodes of the latest season of the FX drama series Animal Kingdom, which is a favorite show of mine. Which brings me to veteran actress Ellen Barkin, who plays a pivotal role in the Animal Kingdom series as well. In The Man from Toronto, Barkin takes on the role of Harrelson’s handler, and I just thought she was great.

THE BAD

The Man from Toronto is far from perfect, but seriously who is surprised by that? This is one of those movies that you go in knowing what to expect, and if you don’t, I guess that is on you. The premise is next-level ridiculous, the special effects are subpar at best, and the acting from the majority of the supporting cast feels like something that would barely make the cut in a B-movie, but guess what, it works. I honestly went into this movie hoping for mindless entertainment with lots of laughs, and that is exactly what I got. I mean sure it was slow-moving at times and probably could have been better closer to the hour and a half runtime, but that wasn’t a killer by any means. So yeah, I’m not going to invest a ton of time picking apart a movie that for my money did exactly what I was hoping it would do.

THE VERDICT

An action comedy anchored by the effective pairing of Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, The Man from Toronto provides plenty of laughs throughout and kept me engaged from start to finish. As I talked about in the review, the premise is pretty far-fetched and so much of what happens feels very unrealistic, but I was expecting that to be the case. I enjoyed watching these hardened criminals basically melt in awe of this notorious hitman as if they were teenage girls at a Backstreet Boys concert, and I had so much fun with the backstories of these characters. I felt like the writing team had fun with the concept and were more concerned with taking advantage of the talents of their leading men which was the smart play if you ask me.

If you go into this movie expecting an experience that will stick with you long after the film ends, you will be disappointed. The Man from Toronto is a popcorn action comedy that will satisfy fans of the genre, and if I’m being honest, I would go as far as saying I would welcome a sequel.