Love Hurts Could’ve Hit Harder
Love Hurts is an acceptable action rom com with some bright moments and a few too many dim ones. From 87North Productions, a production company that created the John Wick franchise and have been successfully making action films with their own stunt specialty since. Their action is convincing, easy to follow, and fun to watch; relying on practical effects and stuntmen performing well choreographed scenes and throwing themselves into or through a dizzying variety of set pieces.
They’ve done a great job making genuine action hero characters with actors who might not have otherwise had the opportunity, such as Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde, Bob Odenkirk in Nobody, Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Kate, David Harbour and Santa Claus in Violent Night, Ryan Gosling recently with The Fall Guy, and present day Brad Pitt in Bullet Train. I’ve actually seen all of these and enjoy most of them to varying degrees, and was looking forward to Ke Huy Quan’s turn after he reemerged with Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Love Hurts does have its moments, and Ke Huy Quan is delightful. If you’re just looking to watch some impressively choreographed stunt work, you likely won’t be disappointed. Unfortunately, the main story was a bit lacking for me, especially in comparison to some of the studios other work. Key Huy Quan plays Marvin Gable, a man who has a particularly violent past and has given it all up to be a real estate agent, helping people find their ideal homes for their family. He claims he’s given up that life and seems to genuinely enjoy this new life he’s built for himself with the help of his supportive boss, played by Sean Astin in a notable cowboy hat.
In addition to Sean Astin, most of this movie’s supporting cast really shines. Lio Tipton plays Ashley, who works for Marvin and begins the film in an existential depression played well for comedic effect. Ariana DeBose plays Rose, who reappears from Marvin’s past life, and kick starts the events of the film, as Marvin’s last job for his crime boss brother before retiring was killing Rose; when she reappears sending everyone Valentine’s Day cards, various hitmen who work for Marvin’s brother are sent after him to find Rose.
Most of this plot line is revealed through expository dialogue that, along with inconsistent voiceover narration, is intended to piece together exactly what happened in Marvin’s past life of crime, revealing revelations and truths of betrayals and set ups. After some point, I found I just didn’t care enough about any of these characters to really follow the thread. It felt like a little too much was put into the how it all happened and not the why. The main push is that Rose believes Marvin is hiding his true nature, disguising himself as a silly little real estate agent, and she wants to pay him back for saving her life by saving him from this facade he’s built for himself.
The problem I ran into with this is that Ke Huy Quan is so good at playing a silly little guy, I didn’t really believe that he wasn’t enjoying this new life he’s built for himself that doesn’t involve hurting people. Does he not deserve a fresh start, away from his life of crime? Additionally, it was difficult to pin down Ariana DeBose’s performance; Rose and Marvin are supposedly in love, but they lack any convincing chemistry.
However, this movie shines in the edges, with a few unusual subplots that are a lot of fun. Marshawn Lynch and Andre Erikson play a couple of goons that work for Marvin’s brother, and throughout the film, Marshawn is giving his partner advice on how to communicate better emotionally and save his marriage. Marvin’s brother, a crime boss played by Daniel Wu, is constantly drinking boba throughout and occasionally weaponizes the pointy boba straw. Lio Tipton’s depressed worker finds the unconscious body of The Raven, a hitman who was sent after Marvin to find Rose, along with The Raven’s book of poetry, which she reads through and finds beauty within. No one else has ever read The Raven’s poetry, and they fall in love. It is Valentine’s day after all.
While these subplots are fun, they are not quite enough to have made the movie worthwhile for me. The actors, especially Key Huy Quan, are fun to watch and doing the most with what they have, but they don’t have too much to work with. It may be the movie having a lower budget than their other productions, it may be that the director is a well established and successful stunt choreographer that hasn’t directed before, but this movie failed to be as engaging, stylish, and competent as the studio’s other work. Maybe I’m being too critical of what is intended to be nothing more than an entertaining action rom com, but it left me wanting more.
