Cinema from the Spectrum

Ke Huy Quan deserves the whole world. If you weren’t convinced of this after his Oscar-winning role in Everything Everywhere All at Once, then surely enough it might be the reminder about what’s happened to his career after having co-starred alongside Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Sean Astin in The Goonies – he’d never quite achieved the same success, or was even in demand outside of his work with Steven Spielberg. Being the first film in which Ke Huy Quan gets to play the leading role, it would almost seem like an action-comedy could be the perfect match for him given that he also took up work as a stunt coordinator during his hiatus from acting, as these skills were present within Everything Everywhere All at Once. But I’m also hoping that his next leading role treats him better than this did.

Quan’s first leading role sees him as Marvin Gable, a realtor who has a hidden past in which he was an assassin for “The Company,” an organization run by his estranged brother Alvin “Knuckles” Gable (Daniel Wu). When Knuckles tries to force his way back into his life, Marvin also seeks the help of his own former lover Rose (Ariana DeBose) in the process, bringing back this old self back into the limelight – when this friendly face belonged to that of a ruthless killer. It’s an action formula that’s been done to death already, but perhaps the fact that this is done within a comedic setting could make Love Hurts come out being more self-aware due to the familiarity of this trope. Unfortunately, that’s also where all the fun would wear out fast.

It goes without saying that Ke Huy Quan plays this part to the best of his own ability. It’s hard to find anything about his presence anything other than endearing, owing to the fact that he’s got an aura of sweetness that can’t be shaken off naturally. You can’t see him as anything other than that, which is part of what makes him a perfect action lead. Quan shows himself to be a great fighter too, though therein lies what might be one of the biggest problems with Love Hurts: you’ve seen him do much of this in more exciting ways in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Even the most impressive fights and Quan’s charisma are all being weighed down by the material he’s working with. While it’s great to see Ke Huy Quan showing that he can carry a movie as a lead, Love Hurts is not a movie that serves his talents right.

This doesn’t really work as a “self-aware” action-comedy romance film for it seems like most of the jokes rely on specific character quirks that don’t end up adding much substantial beyond a cheap gag. You start to feel this with how Mustafa Shakir’s character carries a specific love of poetry but it also stretches down to the characters played by Marshawn Lynch and André Eriksen trying to offer relationship advice given the fact the film is set on Valentine’s Day after all. It seems almost like the people behind this movie are making a joke out of the setting being on Valentine’s Day, as if many romantic action films hadn’t been popular through history. But it even stretches down to the point in which Ariana DeBose’s character never really seems to share much chemistry with Ke Huy Quan either.

Worst of all, it seems like any time director Jonathan Eusebio has a chance to reference a better action movie, he stays there without choosing to play around with it more. Daniel Wu’s character might seem like a great villain on paper, but considering the fact his “villain lair” of sorts is in a video store displaying Shaw Brothers movies, you can’t help but feel like you’d rather be watching those movies instead. It doesn’t help when the action scenes all look terrible, to the point that the action choreography just never really seems to have much room to shine. Given Eusebio’s own background as a stunt coordinator, it almost seems surprising that the camera never really lingers on the action scenes in ways that you would hope to see – instead, it’s always frenetic to a point you can’t even see much of it happen in front of you.

There’s at least something fun that could have come out of the idea of an action movie themed around Valentine’s Day starring Ke Huy Quan. But Love Hurts isn’t that. Even the sight of Data reuniting with Mikey from The Goonies doesn’t feel so exciting either. I think that’s just a sign of how much Love Hurts feels innately doomed from the start, because it seems as if this is an action movie that doesn’t really understand the basics of the genre from the start. The action genre has oftentimes been an innately romantic one, but the constant winks in the face at that idea might just as well be what makes this an eye-roller. We’ve seen the everyman become an action hero done so many times already, and done really well in the past, if John Wick was anything to go by. But Love Hurts fails to understand how even those movies felt somewhat romantic too.

Watch the trailer right here.

All images via Universal Pictures.

Directed by Jonathan Eusebio
Screenplay by Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, Luke Passmore
Produced by Kelly McCormick, David Leitch, Guy Danella
Starring Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose, Daniel Wu, Mustafa Shakir, Lio Tipton, Cam Gigandet, Marshawn Lynch, Sean Astin, André Eriksen
Premiere Date: February 7, 2025
Running Time: 83 minutes