The Man from Toronto (2022 film)

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The Man from Toronto
Official release poster
Directed byPatrick Hughes
Screenplay by
  • Robbie Fox
  • Chris Bremner
Story by
  • Robbie Fox
  • Jason Blumenthal
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRob Hardy
Edited byCraig Alpert
Music byRamin Djawadi
Production
companies
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • June 24, 2022 (2022-06-24)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$75 million[1]

The Man from Toronto is a 2022 American action comedy film directed by Patrick Hughes. The film stars Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, Kaley Cuoco, Jasmine Mathews, Lela Loren, Pierson Fodé, Jencarlos Canela, and Ellen Barkin.

The Man from Toronto was released on June 24, 2022, by Netflix. The film received generally negative reviews from critics.

Plot[edit]

Teddy Jackson is a struggling fitness entrepreneur in Yorktown, Virginia who is fired from his job at a local gym for giving ad brochures without the gym's address. He decides not to tell his wife Lori and takes her to Onancock for her birthday. Leaving her at a spa, Teddy arrives at the wrong cabin, where a man named Coughlin is being held hostage. Mistaken for "The Man from Toronto", a mysterious assassin with a talent for brutal interrogation, the clueless Teddy manages to intimidate Coughlin into giving up a code. The cabin is raided by the FBI, who convinces Teddy to pose as the Man from Toronto to help capture would-be Venezuelan dictator Colonel Marin in exchange for the FBI paying off his overdue mortgage.

Much to Teddy's jealousy, an agent is assigned to accompany Lori and her friend Anne on a day of luxury in Washington, D.C., telling them the trip has been provided by Teddy's job. As Toronto, Teddy meets Marin's wife Daniela, who flies him to San Juan, Puerto Rico with orders to identify Green, Coughlin's partner, and bring him to the Colonel in D.C. En route, Teddy is ambushed by the Man from Toronto, whose real name is Randy. Planning to complete the $2 million contract by maintaining the ruse that Teddy is Toronto, Randy informs his Handler, who sends another assassin, the Man from Miami. Randy and Teddy arrive at a tech conference where Marin's men have captured Green's research team. Randy guides Teddy through interrogating the hostages; accidentally stabbing one of the men in the eye, Teddy vomits all over him and another hostage, who admits he is Green.

Green explains that he and Coughlin worked for DARPA developing a seismic bomb with a dual failsafe — Coughlin's code and Green's thumbprint — but realized they were working on behalf of Marin, who plans to use the weapon to assassinate the President of Venezuela during a visit to D.C. Teddy leaves the room while Randy cuts off Green's thumb and they are attacked by the Man from Miami, but manage to subdue him and escape. They return to D.C. to attend Lori's birthday dinner, where Randy finds himself connecting with Anne. Miami steals the thumb, which he and the Handler deliver to Marin. Teddy and Randy crash the deal and the FBI arrives; Randy flees with the $2 million, while Miami and the Handler escape. The FBI discovers that the thumb belonged to Marin's henchman as Randy chose not to let Marin arm the weapon. Teddy returns home to find Lori has gone to stay with her mother, having learned that he lost his job and lied to her.

Racing to stop her, Teddy is nearly killed by Miami, but Randy intervenes. They fight off several other assassins summoned by the Handler, who arrives demanding the money. She pursues them into a warehouse, where Teddy unintentionally drops her into a vat of boiling oil, frying her alive. Teddy is confronted by a final assassin, the Man from Tokyo, but Randy dispatches him with "Debora", his beloved 1969 Dodge Charger. Taking the car, Teddy reconciles with Lori at the train station, but parks on the tracks, and the car is destroyed by a train. A year later, Randy has followed through on his dream of opening his restaurant and is in a relationship with Anne. Teddy declares Randy as his partner in his new online gym, presenting him with a small payment toward replacing Debora, but Randy later calls Teddy during a live stream workout to threaten him.


Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

It was announced in January 2020 that Patrick Hughes was set to direct Robbie Fox's script The Man from Toronto, with Jason Statham and Kevin Hart set to star; Jason Blumenthal, Todd Black, Bill Bannerman, and Steve Tisch producing through Escape Artists; and Sony Pictures distributing.[2] In March, Statham abruptly exited the project six weeks prior to filming after clashing with producers over the tone and rating of the film. Woody Harrelson was cast to replace him.[3][4] Kaley Cuoco was added to the cast in April,[5] and Pierson Fodé was added in May.[6] Jasmine Mathews, Ellen Barkin, Lela Loren, and Tomohisa Yamashita were added in October.[7][8][9] Filming was set to begin in April 2020 in Atlanta,[10] but in March, production was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] Filming began on October 12, 2020 in the Toronto area.[12] Many major scenes were filmed in Milton Ontario with much delight to the local residents.[13][14] Rob Hardy was the cinematographer.[15] During post-production, the film's music was composed by Ramin Djawadi.[16]

Release[edit]

The Man from Toronto was released on Netflix on June 24, 2022.[17]

The film was initially scheduled to be theatrically released by Sony Pictures Releasing on November 20, 2020.[2] On April 24, 2020, the date was moved to September 17, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the film's production.[18] In March 2021, it was pulled from the schedule.[19] In April 2021, the film was rescheduled to be released on January 14, 2022.[20] In November 2021, it was again delayed to August 12, 2022.[21] Netflix signed a deal with Sony Pictures for the right to exclusively stream upcoming films, including this film after their theatrical and home media windows.[22] In April 2022, Sony sold the film's distribution rights to Netflix, who is distributing the film worldwide excluding China, where Sony would distribute.[23] Sony would also retain home entertainment and linear television rights to the film through the Columbia Pictures label.

Reception[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 23% of 73 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Man From Toronto has a crackerjack premise and a fine pair of stars, but this toothless comedy mismatches its promising elements and winds up neither funny or thrilling."[24] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 34 out of 100 based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[25]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Man From Toronto (2022) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  2. ^ a b N'Duka, Amanda (January 29, 2020). "Jason Statham & Kevin Hart In Talks To Lead The Man From Toronto Action-Comedy From Sony". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  3. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (March 3, 2020). "Jason Statham Exits WME After He Drops Out Of Man From Toronto – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  4. ^ Borys Kit; Mia Galuppo (March 10, 2020). "Woody Harrelson to Replace Jason Statham in Action-Comedy Man From Toronto (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  5. ^ Kroll, Justin (April 29, 2020). "Kaley Cuoco to Star With Kevin Hart in Man From Toronto (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  6. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (May 11, 2020). "Pierson Fodé Joins Man From Toronto; Milo Gibson Boards Manifest West; David Zayas Cast In R#J – Film Briefs". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  7. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 13, 2020). "Jasmine Mathews Joins Kevin Hart In Sony's Man From Toronto". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  8. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 21, 2020). "Ellen Barkin Joins Kevin Hart In Sony's Action-Comedy Man From Toronto". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  9. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 28, 2020). "Lela Loren Joins Kevin Hart And Woody Harrelson in Sony's Man From Toronto". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  10. ^ Project Casting (March 28, 2020). "Kevin Hart's Man From Toronto Atlanta Open Casting Call". Project Casting. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  11. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 14, 2020). "Sony Halts Production On Kevin Hart's Man From Toronto, Shrine & The Nightingale". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  12. ^ "Kevin Hart excites fans on movie set in downtown Milton". 16 November 2020.
  13. ^ Demarco, Zoe (October 15, 2020). "The Man from Toronto is now being filmed in... Toronto". Daily Hive. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  14. ^ Simonpillai, Radheyan (October 14, 2020). "Toronto plays New York in Man From Toronto". Now. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  15. ^ "Rob Hardy Begins Work on The Man from Toronto". Lux Artists. October 19, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  16. ^ "Ramin Djawadi" (PDF). The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  17. ^ "Netflix Movie The Man From Toronto: Everything We Know So Far". What's on Netflix. May 25, 2022.
  18. ^ McClintock, Pamela; Couch, Aaron (April 24, 2020). "Spider-Man Sequel Delays Release to November 2021 Amid Sony Date Shuffle". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  19. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (2021-03-17). "Venom 2 Release Date Delayed to September". Variety. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  20. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (2021-04-13). "Kevin Hart & Woody Harrelson Action Comedy Man From Toronto Sets MLK 2022 Debut". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  21. ^ D'Alessandro, Antony (November 1, 2021). "Kevin Hart & Woody Harrelson Action Comedy Man From Toronto Heads To Late Summer 2022". Deadline. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
  22. ^ Hayes, Dade (2021-04-08). "Netflix And Sony Break Ground With Film Licensing Deal Replacing Starz Pact, Including First Look At New Direct-To-Streaming Titles". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  23. ^ Donnelly, Matt (14 April 2022). "Kevin Hart's Man From Toronto Moves to Netflix From Sony". Variety. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  24. ^ "The Man from Toronto". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  25. ^ "The Man from Toronto". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved June 26, 2022.

External links[edit]