This review of the Netflix movie The Man From Toronto contains no spoilers.
The Toronto man follows the misadventures of a New York tramp and an international assassin after their paths cross following a mix-up with AirBnB.
Movies that manage to pleasantly exceed expectations are great! The Man From Toronto is exactly one of those types of movies that I had very little hope of actually enjoying; I was aware of the issues he faced during production, but also, for the most part, I don’t really find Kevin Hart funny, so the fact that he’s one of the best stars in a comedy got me ready before she even started.
But it actually made for some pretty fun casual viewing. The Toronto man would make a good Friday night movie with company you could share the most ridiculous laughs with.
There’s definitely a huge buddy hint about the movie – a completely mismatched pairing of two very different backgrounds coming together for the greater good. Granted, it’s a more outrageous take on the genre, moving away from a more traditional cop-centric narrative and into the world of international crime and the underworld networks that move within that circle.
As I mentioned before, Kevin Hart would usually be enough to put me off watching a movie because he always comes across as the same version of himself no matter what’s going on around him. While that was certainly the case in The Man From Toronto, it’s as if everyone involved knew he was the constant variable, so everything else had to bend to accommodate him. This is where Woody Harrelson worked brilliantly. Granted, he’s always been the reason I’ve had an interest in watching this movie; I think he has fantastic comedic chops, but in a drier, more cynical way that nicely dilutes how over the top Hart can get when he really gets into it. In a way, it was a bit like watching an unimpressed father who had been left with the baby all day, or an old dog who had to take care of a new puppy. Harrelson showed an irritability towards Hart’s character that took on an affectionate tinge as the film unfolded and was very relatable.
There was also plenty of nonsensical action, which I’m always a sucker for in the right frame – slow-motion running from unnecessarily massive explosions, just like the 90s used to. Some of the fight scenery was fun to watch as well, however, I wasn’t a big fan of the ‘one shot’ fights which were definitely not one shot. Where they tried to mix the cuts together was quite noticeable and really took me out of the moment on more than one occasion.
Something I thought was an odd choice, however, was the PG-13/12 certificate that The Man From Toronto seemed to be tailor-made for. It definitely limited how far they could go, and I think taking the step up to the next age bracket would have paid off immensely.
Despite its issues, however, The Man From Toronto really wasn’t the terrible moment I feared. A decent couple of buddies have certainly done a lot of work here, let there be no misunderstanding about that, but as far as harmless average casual viewing goes, there are plenty of far worse titles out there.
What did you think of the Netflix movie The Man From Toronto? Comments below.
You can watch this movie with a Netflix subscription.
The Man From Toronto review – a fun, albeit ridiculous and laid-back viewing that could have been much worse appeared first on Ready Steady Cut.
