February 10, 2025 · Watch the official trailer
Ke Huy Quan, after having come out of nowhere to win a best supporting actor Oscar in 2023 for “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” is exactly the kind of movie star Hollywood should be celebrating and building films around.
When approached for his latest project, “Love Hurts,” Quan said he initially turned down the lead role because it should have gone to Jason Statham. But when audiences see the humble, earnest positivity he exudes on screen. It's clear why Quan is the absolute perfect choice for reluctant hero Marvin Gable.
Billed as a Valentine's Day action comedy for couples, “Love Hurts” follows Marvin as he attempts to lead a normal life as a successful realtor when his past comes bubbling back up to the surface as his life is a former hitman pulls him into the middle of a spree of violence.
On the page, it makes sense why Quan wouldn't want to accept the role as many sequences within the film are geared towards traditional action stars yet the underwhelming narrative is so flimsy, it's almost as if just the premise of Quan himself being a secret hitman is the only razor-thin difference between Marvin and the actor’s real self.
His overwhelming sense of positivity and affability permeate every frame of “Love Hurts,” making it the least traditional action comedy in some time. While the ridiculousness of the film's plot could have driven things to be exceptionally bizarre and more in line with action flicks Statham or perhaps even Steven Seagal might headline, the only reason that audiences should even seek out this film at all is for the joy that they will get watching Quan on screen.
Oscar winner Ariana DeBois is woefully underutilized in a secondary role as a woman with a secret past of her own who Marvin is in love with but cannot bring himself to tell her.
It's clear that DeBois’ musical theater background lends itself to the action choreography that her Rose is given in “Love Hurts,” but structurally there's much more of a dance nature to those sequences as opposed to the stiffer Hong Kong style set pieces that permeate the rest of the film.
Action sequences play to Quan’s relatively diminutive size for a leading man, pitting him against bigger, brutish actors like former football star Marshawn Lynch (who’s surprisingly funny here) and the visual mismash provides a unique contrast in fighting styles and entertaining, engaging martial arts sequences.
The light-hearted, almost breezy nature of the comedy provides a decent enough counterbalance to the aggressive and bloody violence of an R-rated action flick that hopes to make a John Wick out of Data from “The Goonies.”
“Love Hurts” benefits greatly from a brisk 80-minute run time and it’s the winning persona and heart that Quan brings to the lead role that make this alternative to traditional romance something that might be worth a casual watch in theaters or streaming at home in a few months.
Leave a Reply