Love Hurts is an action-comedy film with a talented cast but a very dubious plot. It took three screenwriters in the shape of Matthew Murray, David Leitch, and Luke Passmore to disappoint this movie watcher. Jonathan Eusebio is a director I have not heard of, and this film isn’t likely to help him much. Ke Huy Quan is in the lead as a successful realtor with a killer past. Other cast members include Ariana DeBose, Daniel Wu, Lio Tipton, and Sean Astin.
Marvin Gable is a very successful real estate agent who has embraced his new life after leaving behind his former criminal associations. He used to work for his brother, a crime lord, who has decided to send some heavy hitters to see if Marvin has heard from a former love, Rose, who he was supposed to kill. There is some missing money being sought. Rose does turn up and needs Marvin to dust off his lethal skills that he has shelved for a while. All sorts of strange assassins converge on the reunited couple, and Marvin is faced with having to lose his new life that he has grown to love.
The basic plot is not that bad. I sort of liked the casting of Quan in this role, however he does not quite pull off the menace when Marvin revers to his former persona. Marvin is described as a “beautiful monster” by his brother. Although the fight scenes are kind of fun, and Quan is able to sell it adequately, I am not sure I could buy that the implied ferocity described by the brother.
Ariana DeBose is quite a find. She is beautiful and seems to have a pretty good sense of comic timing when needed. She really sells the mischievous streak in Rose quite convincingly.
The problem with the film is an incoherent plot. The villains just become a bit too cartoonish. I understand that this was supposed to be a comedic venture, but the jokes just don’t land.
I do think that Ke Huy Quan deserves another chance in a lead role. He is kind of the best thing about this film, but the script didn’t help him shine that much.
The story had some loose threads, and it isn’t clear as to what decisions Marvin made about his future at the end of the chaotic chase.
There are a few bright spots in the film, but the experience as a whole was a bit more of a letdown than even I was expecting.
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