Hey everybody and welcome to a brand new review! This time I will be talking about the latest action film starring recent Academy Award winner, Ke Huy Quan, Love Hurts! First getting started in the 80s, in such movies like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, he then went on a 19 year hiatus from acting, working as a stunt coordinator in that time. He would then come back in a big way with the acclaimed and multi Oscar winning film, Everything Everywhere All at Once, in which he did win that aforementioned Academy Award. Since then he has starred in a couple of high profile supporting roles, but for this one he is the lead. Just getting to see him be the face of a brand new action movie is exciting in and of itself given his immense talent both as a performer and as a fighter. Plus, I like what the production company, 87 North, is doing by getting talented stunt people (in this case, Jonathan Eusebio) to try their hand at directing a feature. So was this able to knock it out of the park? Let’s jump right in and see if how much of a kick this film had.
The film follows one, Marvin Gable, a real estate agent who has proven to be among the most successful in his field, selling houses with ease and managing to put a smile on anyone’s face. He loves this life and everything seems to be going fine and dandy one Valentine’s Day, until he gets a note from a former associate of his, named Rose. This is when we learn that Marvin is actually a former assassin who left that life behind. Now thanks to the actions of Rose, he is being hunted by various assassins hired by his crime lord brother, Knuckles. This leads him to be thrusted back into this life and confront his choices and past in order to save the ones he loves.
This is one of those movies that once it starts, it immediately heads off to the races in regards to the plot where things move at a breakneck pace (not surprising considering the extremely short 1 hour and 23 minute runtime). Now, that kind of storytelling can be very fun and exciting if done correctly. Unfortunately I feel this ends up being a detriment when it comes to this film as most of the proceedings end up feeling rushed and underdeveloped instead of compelling or tightly paced. It just feels like we’re just going from scene to scene without any sense of investment in regards to the story or characters involved and even when we do get some moments to slow down, I can’t say much of it was that good. The script mostly consists of a bunch of hit or miss jokes that get repetitive pretty quickly and characters constantly explaining the plot or what is going on. It mostly got exhausting to the point where I kind of didn’t care much when things went down.
Not helping matters is the copious amounts of voice over utilized which felt like something added in post and took away from moments that were likely intended to leave an impact. It is a shame as while the basic concept of a seemingly ordinary man having secret skills, has been done to death, it can still be a lot of fun and given new life depending on the talent involved (see the Bob Odenkirk film, Nobody, for instance). There just isn’t much here that makes this stand out from all those other films. It is shame as I kind of like the themes going on in relation to love, how it brings people together, and what makes it worth it in the end. If that had been explored in a more interesting manner then this could’ve made for a really fun and unique spin on this story as well as a cute Valentine’s Day movie.
Considering this is from an experienced stunt coordinator, one can hope that the action can provide some entertainment and it does for the most part. Eusebio brings a lot of energy when the time comes for fists to let loose and guns to fire and all of these sequences are coherent and show off some solid stunt work and fight choreography from those involved. They are fast paced and at their best, have a looney Tunes esque quality to them where they can resemble slapstick and are inventive in how the environments and objects are utilized to create chaos. This is most apparent in a middle act shoot out at a house which I found to be my personal favorite action beat of the film. That being said, as entertaining as it can be, I can’t say there was anything that really wowed me and it can get a bit repetitive with a lot of these sequences devolving into constant fisticuffs where Marvin is just punching and kicking guys over and over again. It doesn’t help that the lack of investment in the story didn’t get me to care too much about the outcomes of these battles.
That being said, I will give huge credit to Ke Huy Quan as he does manage to give a very nice and enjoyable performance through it all. He does a great job capturing Marvin’s uplifting personality when things are going right as well as the trauma he faces thinking back on his time as a hit man. I could buy both sides of him and Quan also gets the opportunity to show off his martial arts skills, really putting himself out there in regards to the action, doing some really cool moves. Granted while there are aspects of Marvin I like, I wish there was more done to develop his arc of getting back into the life he seemingly wanted to leave behind as I can’t say the writers presented a well rounded picture of the pros and cons of either life as well as developing his inner conflict of deciding between the two. Another aspect that really hurts this film is (and I hate to say this) the fact that Quan does not have particularly strong chemistry with Ariana DeBose. There’s definitely a good idea here for a strong relationship, but I didn’t find Rose to be that interesting. DeBose’s performance is also not her best as the direction she was given did not suit her abilities at all with Rose often coming off more as annoying than anything else.
When it comes to the supporting players, there manages to be a couple of bright spots here and there. Daniel Wu tries to make Knuckles into a menacing threat and he has fun in the role, even if I didn’t find either him or his relationship with Marvin to be anything but two dimensional. Same goes for Cam Gigandet as his right hand man, Renny, who is just there to spout exposition. I quite enjoyed a couple of the interactions between King (Marshawn Lynch) and Otis (Andre Erikson) with Lynch and Erikson adding some likability to the roles and the latter’s relationship issues getting a chuckle here and there. Same goes for Mustafa Shakir as the poetry loving assassin, Raven, whose calm demeanor is amusing even if his schtick tires a bit and the relationship he begins to form with Marvin’s depressed assistant Ashley (Lio Tipton) not being that developed or as interesting as one would hope. One stand out for me though, was actually Quan’s Goonies co star, Sean Astin, as Marvin’s boss/friend, Cliff. He may not be in the movie much, but he manages to leave an impact, as a kind hearted friend who deeply cares about Marvin. He gets what is easily the most emotionally impactful scene in the movie and I wish the movie was able to further flesh out that dynamic further because Astin gives it his all here.
On the whole, I found Love Hurts to be a disappointing misfire that failed to live up to its potential. It certainly isn’t without its moments as there are some amusing jokes, promising ideas, solidly done (if a bit repetitive) action, and a game lead performance from Ke Huy Quan. But none of that is able to overcome the rushed story, unremarkable execution, lackluster script, and underdeveloped characters. I really wanted to come out having a great time with this one, but it sadly just came in and out without much to really write home about. I guess if one is in the mood for some action and something short, one could do worse than this, but there are also so many movies that frankly do this story in manners that are way more inventive. Regardless of how this one turned out, I’m glad Ke Huy Quan is at least getting more opportunities to show off his immense talent and I do hope to see him in more stuff. I just hope they turn out a bit better than what we got here.
Rating: C-
Please leave your thoughts down below in the comments and see you guys later!
Review Time 