Ke Huy Quan has been on the rise the last few years, fueled by the success of Everything Everywhere All At Once. His latest starring role is in Love Hurts, a film that feels like a modern day Jackie Chan action flick, but doesn’t quite hit the craziness it needed to. Still, it’s a great Valentine’s Day film for couples looking for something that would appeal equally to all genders.
Love Hurts isn’t all roses, but it does have a great cast, solid action sequences, and a shorter than expected running time at just under 90 minutes. Marvin Gable (Ke Huy Quan) is a former hitman/enforcer, turned successful real estate agent. When an old love interest shows up, he’s thrust back into his old life as a hitman, with a slew of crazy antics that follow.
Quan is as charming as always, and very convincing as a real estate agent, hitman, and martial arts master. He steals every scene he’s in, rivaled only by Mustafa Shakir as the Raven, an equally skilled hitman who has business with Gable. If every scene in Love Hurts featured Quan and Shakir, this would’ve been a better film.
Playing opposite Quan is Ariana DeBose, as love interest, Rose Carlisle. Aside from perhaps Westside Story, DeBose hasn’t had a proper chance to showcase her acting chops. The script for Love Hurts holds her back more than it does for Quan and Shakir, but she still plays a convincing femme fatale. Unfortunately, this is really where Love Hurts begins to falter, the script.
The trio of writers credited for Love Hurts don’t have overly impressive resumes. It’s not all bad, and that shows in the film, but the script is easily the weakest aspect of the movie. There’s a clear vibe of wanting to go over the top, and the added violence and gore from the R-rating helps to service that a bit, but not nearly enough.
Love Hurts feels like a very by-the-books movie that wanted to be more, and simply fell short. The action sequences are impressive enough, but everything in the screenplay is predictable, and most audiences will feel like they’ve watched this film before. Nothing is groundbreaking in Love Hurts, and that’s disappointing for a film that clearly had a lot of potential.
Without the scripting prowess of Kill Bill’s Quentin Tarantino, or the over the top shenanigans of something like Bullet Train, Love Hurts is just… okay. The brisk runtime makes it an easier pill to swallow, and there are enough fun moments to keep general audiences entertained, but this is a film you watch on Netflix (Peacock in this instance) on a random Saturday afternoon when you have nothing better to do.
About Love Hurts
Synopsis: A realtor is pulled back into the life he left behind after his former partner-in-crime resurfaces with an ominous message. With his crime-lord brother also on his trail, he must confront his past and the history he never fully buried.
Director: Jonathan Eusebio
Writers: Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, Luke Passmore
Stars: Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose, Mustafa Shakir
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 Hour, 23 Minutes
Bryan Dawson has been writing professionally since the age of 13. He started his career as a video game writer and has since worked for Random House, Prima Games, DirecTV, IGN, AOL, the British Government, and various other organizations. For GNN, Bryan taps into his passion for movies.
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
