Movie Review: 'Love Hurts' Could Use More Love.

Love Hurts

Directed by Jonathan Eusebio

Written by Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, Luke Passmore

Starring Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose

Release Date February 7th, 2025

Published February 12th, 2025

Love Hurts stars Academy Award winner Ke Hui Quan as Marvin, a mild mannered real estate agent who is secretly a killing machine. Years earlier, Marvin left behind the life of an enforcer for his gangster brother, Knuckles (Daniel Wu), for the quiet life of a sweet, good natured, real estate agent that everyone quickly comes to like. It’s a strange transition but one that Marvin is incredibly proud of. His new life may appear dull and his persona, milquetoast, but at least he doesn’t break bones and end lives anymore.

Naturally, the new status quo of Marvin’s life is about to be upended. Rose (Arianna DeBose), has returned after a lengthy absence. Rose happens to have been key to Marvin getting out from under his brother’s thumb. Marvin had promised to kill Rose in exchange for being able to leave his old life behind. With Rose back in town, Marvin’s lie about killing her is exposed, leading Knuckles to send killers after his little brother to find out why Rose is still alive and where she may be hiding while taunting the people who planned to have her killed.

So, why didn’t Marvin kill Rose? Because he was in love with her, of course, though he was too shy to tell her. Yes, despite being a killing machine with a sizable body count, Marvin could not bring himself to believe that she would find him attractive enough as a romantic partner, so he said nothing about his feelings for her. Rose, however, was always aware of Marvin’s feelings and, after he helped her escape by not killing her, his feelings for her became clear. That said, she’s a little miffed about him not making a move on her and for leaving behind the badass that he once was.

That’s the basics of Love Hurts, and without any real spoilers. The film really cannot be spoiled because it is merely a series of fight scenes, occasionally interrupted by Ke Hui Quan being a sweet guy with a big heart. It’s a solid juxtaposition, a man who could kill you and barely break a sweat is also a genuinely nerdy guy who doesn’t enjoy hurting people and is actually a big, romantic softy. This idea is not a bad idea to build a movie around. Sadly, no one making Love Hurts is prepared to make this movie.

Whether it was incompetence or studio interference, or some combination of those things, Love Hurts comes off as rushed and poorly assembled. Characters are clumsily introduced, their actions are poorly motivated, and everything feels as if it were only intended to hold space for the next big fight scene. And, in fairness, the fights are spectacular. The crafting of these fight scenes is impeccable and it’s clear that director Jonathan Eusabio has a talent for staging remarkable fight scenes. Unfortunately, where he lacks is in every other aspect of the film.

The story of Love Hurts is comprehensible but it’s so rushed that supposedly meaningful character moments are ran through so quickly that they have no time to resonate or matter. It’s as if someone thought if we don’t get back to the fight scenes soon, the audience is going to change the channel, forgetting, or perhaps being unaware, that Love Hurts is a theatrical feature and not a network television comedy desperately trying to hook viewers into staying through the commercial break.

I rarely advocate for a movie to be any longer than it is but, at a mere 84 minutes, Love Hurts could have added 10 to 12 more minutes to give these characters a little more time to matter in between the fight scenes. Ke Hui Quan still manages to win us over with his charm and supporting characters played by Lio Tipton and Marshawn Lynch manage to steal their relatively short scenes, but most of the actors are left stranded in search of the next fight scene. Arianna DeBose gets the shortest end of the stick. Her Rose has no depth and her motivation is minimal. She never has enough time to spark genuine chemistry with Ke Hui Quan and thus the Love of Love Hurts is the weakest aspect of the movie.

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