The Stream: Formulaic and not a lot of big laughs

The Big Screen: Woody being Woody, Kevin being Kevin

The Final Bill: A cute little odd couple/buddy film with some nice action pieces

– S2S: Movie Review
Director: Patrick Hughes
Writers: Robbie Fox (screenplay by), Chris Bremner (screenplay by), Jason Blumenthal (story by)
Stars: Kevin Hart, Woody Harrelson, Jasmine Mathews
Genre: Action, Comedy, Thriller
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour 43 minutes
Production Companies: Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), BRON Studios
Platform: Netflix released June 24, 2022

Streamers, we are back and ready to print this thing out. This weekend we watched The Man From Toronto. This is a Kevin Hart and Wood Harrelson film released on Netflix. We get an odd couple/buddy movie that pairs the world’s deadliest assassin and New York’s biggest screw-up. There is a case of mistaken identity when Kevin goes to the wrong Airbnb rental. We watch as things go awry from there. Let’s see how this streaming comedy hits your funny bone.

Fortunately and unfortunately, you know exactly what you’re going to get from a Kevin Hart odd couple/buddy flick. The two are going to go on a mission that one probably doesn’t want to go on. Both by the end of it will figure out something about themselves that will make them better in the long run. BLAH BLAH BLAH. There will be some laughs, some antics, and eyerolls along the way. These filmmakers seem to be just following the molds already made and it’s a bit dry. However, this is a streaming movie which makes this much more tolerable. If I had to pay for this routine movie, I’d probably be mad at myself for not waiting for this to come on TV. I’m not saying that because it wasn’t over the top funny but because we’ve literally seen this movie before with a different combo of stars. Let’s be honest Kevin and the Rock is probably the best combo, followed by Kev and Cube, and then maybe Woody (we’ll see if they do something else together). I think Woody’s character (not Woody) held back the chemistry a bit, but I wouldn’t mind seeing these two in another flick. Either way, the buddy duo felt dry and forced.

The story, itself, was a bit too close to Central Intelligence and not as funny. Nevertheless, I did enjoy Woody being stoic bad-ass Woody and boy did he kick some butt at times. I didn’t enjoy Kevin going full “Simple Jack” for this Teddy character though. It felt unnecessary even though understandable for the story they were trying to tell. He did provide some laughs so do not get me wrong but he’s a bit better as the Golden Jet and screw-up Teddy. The movie feels a bit long in the tooth with some jokes that just got repetitive and not funny. Again, you know what you signed up for when the movie stars Kevin Hart. He does his ramble-y, repeat back thing now cut the crap!

Let’s get real right quick. First, always stock the toner. Second, Kevin Hart has a thing in these buddy movies and he does it well. It’s getting a bit too formulaic and predictable but still funny. Lastly, Hart and Harrelson are a pretty good duo together but maybe this storyline wasn’t the best to show off that dynamic fully. Grab a bowl of popcorn to watch what Kevin normally does and Woody kick some butt when you need an easy laugh and a spot of action.