The Man from Toronto, a macho action romp starring Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, is yet another illustrative example of the Covid shockwave still rippling through the movie industry. It was originally slated for a theatrical release by Sony in November 2020, then faced pandemic production delays, then was acquired by Netflix and pushed to this weekend.
The unceremonious streaming dump makes sense. Netflix has, arguably to its own detriment, cornered the market on big-budget throwaway films, and The Man from Toronto, from Australian director Patrick Hughes, is brawn and bustling action with no bruise, no staying power. It’s the film version of contactless boxing, protagonist Teddy Jackson’s much-maligned and pitiable business plan that gets him fired from his local gym in one of the film’s early scenes.
