Running Time: 83 minutes
This film from Universal Pictures opens exclusively in theaters on February 7th.
It was wonderful to see Ke Huy Quan, who got his start as a child actor in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, have a career resurgence as an adult and win the Best Supporting Actor prize for his work in Everything Everywhere All at Once. This success has earned him a lead role in the action/comedy Love Hurts, which benefits from his likable persona. Alas, the script itself is not as winning and one wishes that the film had been more outrageous and funnier than it ends up being.
Marvin Gable (Ke Huy Quan) is Milwaukee’s friendliest and most upbeat real estate agent, helping match customers with their dream homes. On Valentine’s Day, the lead thinks his biggest problem will be closing a sale and dealing with his holiday-hating assistant Ashley (Lio Tipton). However, all sorts of individuals and issues from his past suddenly appear out of the woodwork. A figure known as The Raven (Mustafa Shakir) attacks the lead at his place of work, demanding to know the whereabouts of an old associate named Rose (Ariana DeBose). More thugs, including Otis (Andre Eriksen), King (Marshawn Lynch) and Renny Merlo (Cam Gigandet), are more aggressive. It’s revealed that Marvin was once a violent killer working for his brother, gangster Alivn “Knuckles” Gable (Daniel Wu), until he refused a hit on life of Rose and disappeared from his sibling’s organization.
The running time is brief and the pacing rapid right from the outset. After just a brief montage of Marvin’s happy but somewhat bland existence before the villains and Rose reappear and cause havoc. We are meant to believe that the lead is deeply in love with Rose, but other than a quick flashback or two later in the film, there’s little in the story to make the viewer understand that the pair have a deep bond or romantic chemistry. As viewers, we are just asked to accept that he adores her and she may miss him as well.
Characters are introduced in the simplest of terms, bluntly filling in plot details and stating their goals in an overly straightforward manner. A few individuals do come off as quirky, but others are more awkward than engaging. It’s also a very violent picture. The hero is essentially tortured and beaten in the first third of the movie, which doesn’t exactly inspire laughter at jokes early on.
And while the actors and crew do their best to add spectacle and interest to the confrontations with some unique angles (including shots from inside appliances), one wishes that the oddness and contrasting elements of mob violence and martial arts occurring in suburbia had been emphasized. This script also suffers from a bizarre close. The moral almost seems to be that a once nasty person should just keep on being a cruel individual and not seek any kind of redemption or way to better themselves.
It isn’t all bad, though. The cast do manage to eke some laughs out of the slim story. The unexpected, budding relationship between assistant Ashley and The Raven does earn a few chuckles and serves as a highlight. As events get over-the-top towards the final dustup, the movie starts to build some momentum and goodwill. This includes the use of oversized cutlery props during an exaggerated fight. An amusing cameo involving Marvin’s real estate rival (Drew Scott) lands very effectively. In fact, this moment is likely the best gag in the entire picture, because it’s so outrageous that the graphic nature of what is occurring isn’t bothersome.
It’s great to see Quan on top in Hollywood. He’s an endearing presence and still manages to acquit himself well here as a lead. There are some laughs and a few inspired moments of action and mayhem. But sadly, the underdeveloped and at times mean-spirited screenplay of Love Hurts prevents the movie from earning the adoration of this viewer.