Ellen Barkin Archives - Sean Kelly On Movies

A loser of a man is mistaken for an infamous assassin in The Man from Toronto. Teddy Jackson (Kevin Hart) is an aspiring fitness instructor who decides to rent a cabin in Onancock, Virginia, to celebrate the birthday of his wife Lori (Jasmine Mathews). However, Teddy accidentally ends up at the wrong place and is mistaken for The Man from Toronto (Woody Harrelson), an infamous assassin who does jobs for his mysterious Handler (Ellen Barkin). The FBI raids the cabin, and Teddy is tasked by Agent Lawrence (Kate Drummond) to keep pretending to be The Man from Toronto so that the FBI can apprehend his client. However, the real Man from Toronto tracks Teddy down and tries to ensure he doesn't mess up his job more than he already has. The Man from Toronto is an action comedy directed by Patrick Hughes (The Hitman's Bodyguard) and starring Kevin Hart as a man mistaken for a vicious assassin played by Woody Harrelson. The FBI forces Teddy Jackson to keep up the charade that he's The Man from Toronto. At the same time, his wife Lori goes on birthday celebrations along with undercover FBI babysitter Agent Santoro (Jencarlos Canela) and Lori's best friend Anne (Kaley Cuoco). Meanwhile, The Man from Toronto's Handler isn't happy about this mess and sends another assassin known as The Man from Miami (Pierson Fode) to clean up the mess. As an actual Man from Toronto, I do have to make mention of a major pet peeve I had watching The Man from Toronto, where most of the film's characters, notably Kevin Hart, emphasize the second T in the name of the city, which most Torontonians would know is usually pronounced silently. That bit of nitpicking aside, I have to say that The Man from Toronto is a typical and genetic action buddy comedy that sees Kevin Hart doing his usual shtick. That said, Woody Harrelson, replacing an originally cast Jason Statham, does shine as the titular Man from Toronto, playing no-nonsense straight man to Hart's crazy antics. Even though Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson are front and centre for most of the film, sadly, the female leads of Jasmine Mathews (The Tomorrow War) and Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory, The Flight Attendant) are relegated to background players for most of the film, with Cuoco in particular only being present for like three scenes. As The Man from Toronto's Handler, Ellen Barkin has a slightly more significant role in the film, though it's mostly through voice-over phone calls. While the plot of The Man from Toronto has its moments, the film somewhat begins to fall apart in the third act, as it becomes slightly apparent that director Patrick Hughes and writers Robbie Fox and Chris Bremner did not have a satisfactory way to end the story or even settle on a primary antagonist. Also, The Man from Toronto exposes the central irony of Toronto being a film shooting location. Despite the film being shot in the city and having its name in the title, Toronto only ends up getting to play itself in a 30-second shot establishing the city as The Man from Toronto's base of operations. Otherwise, as is usually the case for the city, Toronto ends up being a stand-up for Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and other locations. Overall, The Man from Toronto is a somewhat mediocre action-comedy that is only really worth checking out if there is nothing else to watch.

Ellen Barkin

The Man from Toronto

The 8th

Crime + Punishment