Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Man from Toronto Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Justin Dekker May 30, 2024

The mistaken identity action comedy 'The Man from Toronto' makes its Blu-ray debut courtesy of Universal. Starring Kevin Hart as the bumbling Teddy Jackson and Woody Harrelson as the titular character, this enjoyable film dishes out laughs and mayhem in equal measure. Special features are limited to a collection of deleted scenes as well as a few previews for other films. Both the audio and video presentations meet or exceed expectations. A Digital Code is also included but a slipcover is not.

The motormouthed Teddy Jackson (Kevin Hart, Ride Along, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) can't catch a break. As the film opens, a number of self-shot videos of Teddy's fitness-related money-making schemes play out in rapid succession. Each earnest video succeeds in lampooning a number of actual fitness products and fads such as resistance bands and pushes them to the limits of ridiculousness with Teddy unintentionally demonstrating the pitfalls and hazards of each piece of equipment cementing his status as a buffoon and ensuring the ultimate failure of each venture. When he proposes his latest idea, "Non-Contact Boxing" (or "Teddy Box") to a local gym owner, its innate silliness coupled with the deeply flawed marketing brochure he was hired to produce for the gym, he's quickly fired.

Teddy's long-suffering wife, Lori (Jasmine Mathews, Big George Foreman, The Tomorrow War) remains by his side despite his shortcomings, though her patience is beginning to wear thin. As the couple starts to try and have a family, she urges him to land a job and take on small tasks that he can actually accomplish rather than jumping from one failed grand plan to the next. By sharing that people at her office use the phrase "Teddy'd it" to refer to a mistake, she hopes to further motivate him to change. Initially, as he shares his plan to take her away to a cabin in Onancock, VA to celebrate her birthday and work on trying to have a baby, she's optimistic. After dropping her at a day spa, however, his inability to keep their printer filled with ink leads him to check into the very wrong cabin.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to the film's titular "The Man from Toronto" (Woody Harrelson, Cheers, Zombieland), an assassin of legendary status. An expert in 23 forms of martial arts, he is partial to using 19th-century American poetry as codes for his contacts. He arrives at a remote location to find a man tied to a chair. Tasked with obtaining a critical piece of information from the man, Toronto dramatically unpacks his knives and other implements of torture as he tells his subject a grim tale from his youth. Based on the strength of his reputation and his intimidating display, Toronto is able to extract the needed information without spilling a single drop of blood.

Walking into the wrong cabin while holding a large kitchen knife and a box of supplies for the weekend, Teddy is met by a man expecting The Man from Toronto, whom he has never met, and he is thus mistaken for the assassin. After being taken down to the basement and seeing a man tied to the rafters, Teddy senses something is wrong and realizes that his only hope of making it out alive is by playing along and pretending to be Toronto. Handling this situation as incompetently as he's approached everything else, Teddy is able to make the captive man tell his captors what they need to know, based on Toronto's reputation and the erratic, nonstop drivel he relentlessly and nervously spews. Immediately afterward, the FBI arrives and apprehends Teddy, quickly understanding that this is a case of mistaken identity. But as the contact at the cabin texted a photo of Teddy to his employer, Colonel Marin (Alejandro De Hoyos), he is pressed into service to continue to impersonate The Man from Toronto so that Marin can be captured and lives can be saved. The actual Toronto pursues Teddy so that he can put an end to the man who's stolen his identity, make good on the contract he agreed to, and obtain the $2 million dollar payday he's been promised.

Hart excels in his role of the everyman Teddy in The Man From Toronto. The panic he demonstrates when confronted with armed assailants and his physical reaction to accidentally cutting a man he's tasked with torturing for information ring comedically accurate. Remaining true to his character in these and other life-or-death situations, Teddy never gains inexplicable skill or prowess in fights or the use of weapons, with his tendency to run from danger and the intervention of others being key to his survival. His greatest attribute, as is the case with most of Kevin Hart's other roles, is the ceaseless bluster he unleashes when he's nervous or desperate to impress, keeping his foes off balance and buying time for those with actual skills to intercede on his behalf. Unlike Bill Murray's Wallace Ritchie in 1997's The Man Who Knew Too Little who succeeds in spite of his incompetence, Hart's Teddy Jackson succeeds because of it.

As the deadly assassin The Man from Toronto, Harrelson is every bit as lethal and likeable as the prickly Tallahassee in the Zombieland franchise. While Toronto has no doubt earned his fearsome reputation, Harrelson humanizes the character as he aids Jackson in his impersonation, criticizes his life choices and provides advice, and displays anxiety in meeting Kaley Cuoco's Anne during a risky and awkward double date. Hart's Teddy likewise isn't shy about critiquing his mysterious new partner, endeavoring to make him a better human and not just a hitman. Overall, Harrelson's rapport and chemistry with both Cuoco and Hart are apparent and keep the film squarely in comedic territory even as he adds the much-needed weight and muscle to the action sequences.

Directed by Patrick Hughes (The Hitman's Bodyguard) with a purported budget of $75 MM, The Man from Toronto never received a domestic theatrical release. Instead it debuted on Netflix where it was briefly the platform's most-streamed film. With an already impressive cast, Ellen Barkin (Sea of Love, Ocean's Thirteen) appearing in a small role as Toronto's handler only adds to the film's pedigree. However, the film is not without it's issues. As ever, a PG-13 rating can often feel like handcuffs, limiting just how far filmmakers can go with violence, something integral to film focused on the actions of a notorious hitman. Here, it's a double-edged sword. The lower rating does make the film's numerous fight scenes feel reigned in, but having the camera pull away from the torture elements actually works in its favor. By never showing the minutiae of his handiwork, it keeps Harrelson from becoming too villainous and allows the other assassins to possess an almost cartoonish quality in accordance with the overall tone of the picture. The single greatest offender, however, is the unconvincing use of CGI, most particularly during and immediately after the flight to Puerto Rico, though there are a few other questionable moments as well. Considering both the budget and the cast, shoddy CGI is a most unwelcome and unanticipated surprise.

The Man from Toronto Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Man From Toronto looks very good on Blu-ray. Fine detail is readily apparent on faces and fabrics, with many chances to see every line, wrinkle, and blemish on Harrelson's face. The dim basement location where Hart first impersonates Toronto and the dingy desert home where we see Toronto himself in action at the beginning of the film both present the viewer with ample opportunities to explore the busy and grungy sets. Colors appear nicely saturated when the filmmaker is not opting for a more stylized palette, and skin tones are healthy and natural-looking. The picture possesses a nice sense of depth and black levels are typically very satisfying. I didn't detect any instances of banding, noise, or other anomolies.

The Man from Toronto Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Although a Dolby Atmos track would have been preferred, The Man from Toronto's English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is quite good. It's a boisterous track that is frequently immersive with surrounds employed to place the viewer inside airplanes, restaurants, fights, and explosions. Dialogue is typically placed front and center and is well-balanced and never at risk of being drowned out by the on-screen action. The track has a big bottom end, with explosions, gunfire, punches, and crashes all landing with pleasing weight and depth. Music is rendered with great precision and is occasionally allowed to build and dominate the track. English, English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles are available.

The Man from Toronto Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

On-disc special features for The Man From Toronto include:

• Deleted Scenes (7.26) - "Car Ride" - Footage of the principal characters driving to Onancock, VA, Teddy and Lori in their car and Toronto in his; "He Looks So Average" - Colonel Marin and his team discuss their plan and react to a picture of who they believe to be Toronto; "All We Got" - The FBI reviews footage of the real Toronto sneaking onto the plane bound for Puerto Rico; Rental Car - Other hitmen rent a car; "I Teddy'd it Up" - Teddy realizes he ruined his wife's birthday; "One Year Later" - Totonto utilizes his unique skills in an unexpected way.

• Previews - Four previews are included: Fatherhood, 65, Big George Foreman, and Bullet Train,

The Man from Toronto Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There is an undeniable cartoonish feel to The Man From Toronto. Every element of the film seems to purposefully build to that end, starting with the level of Teddy's incompetence, and continuing through to Harrelson and Barkin's characters not having actual names, the heavily stereotypical members of the guild of assassins, and the staging of the numerous interrogation and fight sequences. Nothing about the film is ever serious. Even in its darkest moments, it's still exclusively mining for laughs. There's no deep or hidden meaning to the goings on here, it's a solid and entertaining popcorn movie and it knows it. Better CGI and more screen time for Kaley Cuoco would have been welcome improvements, but Harrelson and Hart deliver compelling if familiar performances. The Blu-ray's audio and video presentation don't disappoint, and The Man From Toronto comes recommended for the right price.