Love Hurts

Marvin Gable (Ke Huy Quan) seems to be a simple successful real estate agent. His past crush Rose Carlisle (Ariana DeBose) comes back into his life and it is quite a past.

I really wanted to love this for Ke Huy Quan. In the end, I cannot proclaim this although he is not the problem. Basically, he is the same guy as always and with a moustache, he is an evil assassin. This movie is trying to be some sort of fun action thriller. The characters are all cardboard cutouts. Ariana DeBose can do better. Maybe it's not the page. The action is fine, but I got bored with it to the point zoning out a couple of times. That's even with a quick running time.

LIKES: Fun Funny Some Good Fights The Acting Is Involved Some Deeper Meanings Fun Subplots Summary: The synopsis I gave will hopefully set the tone that this movie is not a serious entry into the movie collection by any means. It's goofy, and that goofiness is fun to watch and get lost in for a short amount of time to just give your mind a break. Love Hurts is a comedy before anything else, as it combines a lot of elements that are hilarious to enjoy. Pokes at Martial Arts movies, more jabs at the Valentine empire, and the folly of modern loves. I enjoyed the overdramatic delivery of one character, making every piece of advice comical, while another's somber and poetic tones are strange and time perfectly to be funny rather than disturbing. There are plenty of insults, slapstick humor, and environmental mishaps that feel like a silly version of John Wick, and it worked well on many parts for me in that pure spectacle Eusebio directed it toward achieving. Speaking of fights, the action scenes sometimes nail the choreography to be exciting, impressive, and unique with the kung fu of Bruce Lee meeting the humor of Jackie Chan. Love Hurts made me... well... hurt when you see some of the blows that Quan throws in this movie at the extras. It's violent, it's fast(ish), and feels a bit like a video game with the props and planning that this movie adopted. It leads to a fast and fun pace that keeps your brain numb, and a movie like this is enjoyable when you go in with such a mindset.

There are a few deeper elements to the film, the main plot of Marvin's tale holding elements much more in tune with character growth and reflections on life. It's spiritual and almost meditative, a relevant character who is looking for happiness and finding it means that many characters don't quite match up with in other films. Other characters surprisingly have a bit more bite to them as well, not just secondary characters, but tertiary ones whose subplots are cute, entertaining, and offer a little anchor away from the violence that is the main plot. The little dance they do is all in line with the spirit of fun, and the actors all manage to be very fun and immersed in the movie, though a few seem less committed to the characters and don't bring their A-game as they do in other works. Still, Love Hurts surprised me with the expansion into other tributaries to help provide some balance.

DISLIKES Too Violent/Aggressive Withy Language Plot is Cliché/Predictable Subplots are underdeveloped/rushed Fighting comes off stiff at times The Acting Is Inconsistent Too Stupid At Times Too Little Time To Juggle Everything Summary: The movie is extreme in a lot of ways, though, and the result is a movie being chopped up and a little lacking in many elements to make some of the points fall for me. The acting is, for the most part, appropriate, most of the cast having fun with their parts and just letting their dramatic personalities unfold in manners very appropriate for the film. It's just not consistent, and some of the actors feel a tad dry and uncommitted to the role, only managing to give me convincing performances in the film. The plot is cliché and predictable, any attempts at twists washed away by the excessive comedy sweeping away the serious plot twists and character developments. The subplots suffer in their length and feel lacking or hastily tied up with a single-shot montage that feels shallow and kind of benign. As for the dialog, well, the movie gets aggressive with the foul language, losing the spice factor for that "realistic" angle that so many people seem okay to have. As. If this weren't enough, the movie also starts to run into problems with the action elements for a viewer like me. The film pays homage to the great fights well, but many times, it feels stiff, uncoordinated, and repetitive in the embellishments they took with this film. I don't know how legit the fights are, but Love Hurts seems a bit blocky and forced battles (like the Acolyte) and gets paired with John Wick damage syndrome that loses an edge when you see how much punishment our "hero" can take. All of this comes out very stupid and silly at times, leaving me bored and wishing to steer away from the comedy elements to meet closer to the middle or add some more unique and coordinated elements to make up for the cliché. All-in-all, most of these things could have been improved secondary to having more time, the eighty-two minute run time not giving much wiggle room to keep all these tales and characters in an appropriate balance, in my opinion. About twenty more minutes could have done wonders for this film, or perhaps cleaned up the cast a tad more to not cram so many thin strings into this complex web.

The VERDICT Love Hurts is another fine edition of the Valentine film parody that is very entertaining to watch. It's simply kung fu in an odd love story, and that ridiculous summary extends into the film's comedic focus with action elements to support the fast-paced film. You'll find plenty of styles to laugh at, alongside some awesome fights that feel closer to real-life anime than the actual real-life anime films we have. The pace is just purely fun, but other plots might stoke the fires of hope and well-being if you pay attention to them. However, this odd combination is not going to win much in the general audience, depending on your tolerance for violence, excessive language, and the amount of stupid humor and aggressive comedy you'll get in the short run time. Love Hurts has a lot of potential, but it's squandered by how short the film is and how many characters/sub-plots they tried to weave together in that time frame. Is it the worst thing to hit theaters? No, but the movie still needs a little more polish, planning, and precision to be worth the full recommendation to see in the theater. It's definitely going to be action lovers and comedy junkies who can't get enough as the niche audience, while the majority will probably get the most at watching at home. My scores for Love Hurts are: Action/Comedy: 6.5-7.0 Movie Overall: 6.0-6.5.

Set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Marvin Gable (Ke Huy Quan) is seemingly a successful realtor who will help you find your dream home. However, following an encounter with an assassin known as the Raven (Mustafa Shakir), Marvin finds his new life under threat from his old one as the re-emergence of his last kill, Rose (Ariana DeBose), whom he didn't actually kill puts him on a collision course with his estranged gangster brother Alvin "Knuckles" Gable (Daniel Wu).

Love Hurts is the latest genre film from 87North Productions, better known for their production of the John Wick series of films that helped redefine modern action cinema. The film marks Ke Huy Quan's first lead role following his Oscar winning comeback in Everything Everywhere All at Once and while I think Quan is perfectly capable of headlining a film like this, I just wish it were a more interesting one.

While Quan doesn't have the richest role as Marvin, I will say that there is sort of a meek charm at watching this small unassuming realtor unleash martial arts fury upon hoards of would be assassins. If Jackie Chan (at his peak anyway) could be described as Buster Keaton with martial arts, Quan's style is more akin to Harold Lloyd where there's a bit more of an edge to the disaster prone hi-jinks. Honestly during the opening 20 minutes I didn't really understand why the movie had been so panned by critics as some of the physical comedy seemed on point and the fight scenes had the typical 87North quality....but then the movie started to lose me. Running at only 87 minutes long the movie isn't unaware of what it is and gets right to the point, but that's kind of part of the problem as there isn't a lot of time spent developing character or setting up the circumstances.

When you compare Love Hurts to 87North's other comedic action film Nobody which had a solid and efficient first act establishing the mid-life stagnation of Bob Odenkirk's character that set up effective contrast to the more outlandish elements later on, Love Hurts dives in way too fast and we don't really get a chance to know the characters beyond the surface level. The movie encounters further issues with Ariana DeBose' Rose and the actions taken by her character which the movie tries to frame as being for Marvin's benefit but because we never took time to establish Marvin's life we don't know that and it seems like she's nuking his new life because "why not?". The movie per its title also tries to paint itself as a romantic unconventional Valentine's Day film clunkily establishing a romance between Marvin and Rose along with Marshawn Lynch's King and Andre Erisken's Otis discussing marital problems or Marvin secretary Ashley played by Lio Tipton falling for poetic assassin Raven played by Mustafa Shakir and while occasionally there's a sequence that works, most of it just feels limp especially in comparison to 87North's The Fall Guy which mixed action and romantic comedy much more effectively. Even the usually reliable fight work loses integrity in the final act as there's a disappointing number of cuts and close-up shots that make the final fight so underwhelming.

Love Hurts isn't without some charms (most of them courtesy of Quan), but the film never fully comes together in a way the marketing promises and it feels like a half-hearted remix of prior 87North productions that did similar things much more successfully. Quan's more than capable of headlining a film like this, I just wish the film itself were better.

Ah, Valentine's Day. Love is in the air, chocolate is everywhere, and fights ensue every five minutes. Great holiday.

The biggest draw to this movie is likely going to be Ke Huy Quan, beloved 80's kid star and recent Oscar winner. He is clearly giving it his all, both acting- and action-wise, with a performance I can best describe as friendly, making Marvin Gable someone you'd root for no matter what. Everyone else in the movie does well as well, with the other notable standout being Ariana DeBose as Rose. Other than a few lines that feel a bit over-the-top, she brings a fun presence to the movie.

The other big sell, the action, is another reason that's worth the price of admission. Director Jonathan Eusebio, known for stunt coordination on several other projects including John Wick, manages to make the fights a joy in every situation. The camera isn't steady all of the time, but unlike most shaky cam, it works in a way to make the fights feel chaotic while still maintaining a clear sense of what is going on. It also helps that there are several unique setpieces to the fights, including the weaponry of choice by Mustafa Shakir's character The Raven.

Besides the leads and the action, the story is admittedly very light. While the trailer's hook is interesting, there isn't much going on in the plot save for one minor subplot that isn't expounded upon, but I thought had a neat little payoff for all the little details throughout. It does work to the movie's favor as a quick 80-minute action flick, but those hoping for more substance will undoubtedly be disappointed. The other criticism I have is that there are several moments of handholding throughout. There will be a focus on an object or setpiece, then a character will say something to the effect of "I can use this" or "Ah, I recognize this" rather than letting the visual cues clue the audience in.

If you can look past the empty-calorie story, I recommend this, especially if you're looking for a Valentine's Day date at the movies. It's an easy watch that pairs well with a dinner afterward. Not much else Valentines-themed this month anyway. Unless you like slashers, in which case Heart Eyes may be more up your alley.

I liked this film. It didn't blow me away, but it was entertaining -- fast-paced, humorous, and filled with great martial arts action sequences. The performances were all great too -- a lot of great supporting characters, and I am never going to say no to a Ke Huy Quan film. But even though Ariana DeBose did a fine job as Rose, I can't help feel that the studio should have gone with a more seasoned actress for this role. For someone who was supposed to be Quan's love interest, there was a noticeable difference between the two leads' ages. They're more than 20 years apart in real life, and it shows. It's not that this kind of May-December romance isn't possible, but it's distracting -- even a little creepy. Whoever cast this film would have done everyone a favor by bringing in someone who seemed a more natural love interest for Quan, rather than just being Hollywood's most recent "it girl."