Marvin Gable (Quan), a realtor working the Milwaukee suburbs where ‘For Sale’ signs bloom, receives a crimson envelope from Rose (DeBose), a former partner-in-crime that he had left for dead. She’s not happy. Now, Marvin is thrust back into a world of ruthless hitmen, filled with double-crosses and open houses turned into deadly warzones. With his brother Knuckles (Wu), a volatile crime lord, hunting him, Marvin must confront the choices that haunt him and the history he never truly buried.
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When I first saw the trailer for Love Hurts, I was looking forward to checking it out. Ke Huy Quan, the child actor from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, grew up and leaped back into the limelight in Everything Everywhere All at Once, and now has his own movie with this action comedy. But, then the reviews came in – and they weren’t good. Now that it’s streaming, I decided to give it a go anyway. Would I agree with the critics, or would this just be painful to watch?
Ke Huy Quan leads the cast in Love Hurts, and he seems to be able to handle both the comedy and the action with ease. His interactions in the beginning of the film are a highlight, as he goes about his realtor job with a passion. Then, when things take a turn, he is more than able to handle himself in the action sequences too. It’s a good showcase of his talents.
Unfortunately, he’s almost all on his own, as most of the rest of the cast just doesn’t work. Quan has no chemistry whatsoever with Ariana DeBose, so her character is pretty much dead in the water right from the start (although she’s fine otherwise). Football player Marshawn Lynch isn’t bad – but his partner in the film, Andre Eriksen, is abysmal, and that taints Lynch’s performance. Mustafa Shakir is just an oddball, and his pairing with Lio Tipton is just too silly. Cam Gigandet is just wasted, and Daniel Wu – as the big bad – doesn’t really amount to anything either.
The one exception is Sean Astin. While his role is brief, it’s a highpoint of the film. With very few scenes, he manages to bring more heart to his character than anyone else except Quan. It’s also nice to see two of The Goonies teaming up together again, if only briefly.
The storyline is incredibly barebones in Love Hurts. A former hitman has gotten out of the game, but when the woman he loved returns, he’s thrust back in again, and has to reconcile with his past if he’s going to have a future. That’s it. The whole story. The film never expands on that – including not fleshing out any of the characters. It’s so lackluster, and obviously just in place to provide a backdrop to showcase Quan’s comedy and action skills.
Honestly, the lack of chemistry between Quan and DeBose wouldn’t have been that bad if the film didn’t keep trying to focus on their unrequited love. Since Love Hurts plays up the Valentine’s Day theme ad naseum, the film tries to focus a lot on the love they share. Unfortunately, that just highlights that they don’t have any spark at all between them, and makes it an even more glaring error. If they had left it alone, it would have made the film better – but it also would have made this a different movie entirely.
The action sequences in Love Hurts are pretty impressive. In the beginning, Gable is obviously rusty, and the sequences reflect that, as he gets his butt kicked more often. As he keeps going though, the skills come back and by the end, he’s dishing out punishment against a whole slew of opponents at once. Honestly, it’s a bit sad that there’s more character development in the fight scenes than there is in the rest of the movie as a whole, but it does make the fight scenes worth watching.
With zero chemistry between its stars and no real character development, Love Hurts doesn’t provide much beyond being a showcase for Quan as a leading man. Sadly his good performance is largely wasted in such a throwaway film. Sean Astin is a bright point, and (shockingly) so is Drew Scott, of Property Brothers (TV) fame. There are decent action sequences, but if Drew is outperforming most of your cast in his brief role, than you’re obviously in trouble. While Quan obviously has the talents to lead, this film’s poor performance at the box office could mean an end to that part of his career – and that would be a shame.
