Written By Darren
Rating 1 out of 5
The Man From Toronto wastes the comedic talents of Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, delivering one boring experience from start to finish that is truly hard to sit through.
Kevin Hart is one of those comedy stars in Hollywood that once he’s attached to a film, I will automatically watch it. It may not be the greatest comedy or even a good story, but Hart usually never fails to deliver an entertaining film. However, he has met his match with the latest film from director Patrick Hughes, the director behind the wildly entertaining Hitman’s Bodyguard films starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson. Throw in Woody Harrelson, who is always a lot of fun, and this film should have been a fun yet mindless action comedy. But unfortunately, it is even worse than the trailers make it out to be.
The film revolves around a case of mistaken identity, when Hart’s Teddy misreads his AirBnb booking and arrives at the wrong house, where a bunch of criminals are waiting for Harrelson’s The Man from Toronto, an infamous assassin. However, after the house is swarmed by the FBI, Teddy must play along to help the FBI thwart the plan of a rogue foreign politician, which puts him in the crossfire of The Man from Toronto’s plans. The film is your generic action comedy, full of setups for comedic moments and action sequences. It’s nothing special or vastly different from other films in the genre, instead designed to rely on the comedic chemistry of the film’s leads to carry the film from start to finish. And with stars like Hart and Harrelson, it should be easy for the film to be fun. But try again.
The script is painfully unfunny, leaving Hart and Harrelson with very little to work with. Hart tries his best to elevate the script with his goofy self to no avail, whereas Harrelson is completely checked out. There is no chemistry between the two of them, nor can they find a good comedic banter, which ultimately sinks the film as I can count the number of scenes that I actually laughed during on one hand. Those scenes: two of them featuring the always hilarious Kaley Cuoco, and the other featuring a handsome Latin FBI agent fighting with Teddy after being assigned to protect Teddy’s wife and Teddy being jealous. Every other joke falls incredibly flat, thanks to an uninspired script which does not play to the strengths of its two leads, instead making this a terribly unfunny film from start to finish that truly tests your patience. It’s truly an accomplishment of this film as it made both Hart and Harrelson unfunny, though it’s not an accomplishment any film wants. Cuoco is a scene stealer as always, though her five minutes of screen time is nowhere near enough to make this film watchable. Even the action sequences aren’t terribly exciting as they are dragged down by poor CGI and choppy editing.
The only positive thing about this film is Pierson Fode’s performance as The Man From Miami. Fode understands the assignment, captures the zanny identity of his character and fully commits to the action sequences. It’s nowhere near a star-making performance, but I am interested to see what Fode could do with a far better script, as there could be something there.
There’s a reason Sony decided to ditch a theatrical release for their new Hart/Harrelson buddy action film, as on paper that should have been a decent box office hit, but the reality is an absolute trainwreck. I had hoped for a good film, as Hart’s film Fatherhood, which Sony also sold streaming rights to Netflix instead of releasing it theatrically, turned out to be one of Hart’s best films, but that is not the case here. Even knowing that this film will be streaming on Netflix cannot sway my opinion to recommend this film, even if you like the cast, as it is just unbearable from start to finish. Not even Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson can save The Man From Toronto from being an absolute misfire due to its terrible script that fails to energize its stars and delivers only a handful of laughs in what was meant to be a comedy.