Audiences looking for an action comedy with some big stars, need look no further than The Man from Toronto, directed by Patrick Hughes. Kevin Hart, Woody Harrelson, Jasmine Mathews, Kaley Cuoco, Pierson Fode, and Ellen Barkin star in this buddy comedy about assassins and mistaken identity.
Teddy Nilson (Hart) is having trouble with both his personal and professional lives. He is constantly making mistakes with his supportive and patient wife, Lori (Mathews). He is also a bumbling entrepreneur with a silly and wholesome idea for his place of employment, Marty's Gym: contactless boxing (which already exists in the gym world as shadow boxing, but that is beside the point).
After his idea backfires, he decides to take his wife on a weekend getaway for her birthday. He needs to get this right. A series of misadventures later, he finds himself at the wrong place at the wrong time. That's when the movie takes off. He is mistaken as the mysterious Man from Toronto (Harrelson). When the real Man from Toronto finds out, Teddy finds himself in a world of hurt.
Kevin Hart does a wonderful job portraying a loveable screw-up. He has perfect delivery when it comes to either slapstick humor or flawlessly timed one-liners. Woody Harrelson's take on a nameless hitman is on point. Harrelson does a great job portraying a serious, "tall, dark, and scary" guy who ends up having a surprising number of layers.
It's far from perfect, however. Some of the special effects aren't as good as they could be. A few of the action sequences feel ridiculously overexaggerated. Sometimes the real mystery is when will the secrets reveal themselves instead of what those secrets are, which is unfortunate. The script is good but not as tight as it could be. If viewers wanted to spice up the movie a little, they could try turning the overused phrases "low toner," "Man From," or the verb "to Teddy" into a drinking game.
The stereotyped opening sequences feel a little cliché. Hughes juxtaposes Teddy's screw-ups with Toronto's clean house. Teddy may be lovable, but Toronto is efficient and gets the job done. This is really a cross-section of the whole movie which plays out formulaically. While both main characters are met with obstacles, those obstacles aren't especially original. There aren't many twists and turns, and the "surprises" aren't particularly remarkable.
All in all, The Man from Toronto is a fun romp with a couple funny one-liners and a multitude of great action sequences. Look out for the uniquely choreographed single-take fight scene. Audiences shouldn't expect the movie to change their lives. However, if an action-comedy hitman film will fit the bill, this will be an enjoyable movie to watch with friends and a big bucket of popcorn.