Love Hurts

This action-comedy gets by on the likeability of Ke Huy Quan and the fun, exaggerated fight sequences, but the film as a whole is fairly run-of-the-mill.

Premise:  Retired underworld hitman Marvin (Ke Huy Quan) has made a new life for himself as a successful realtor, but his past comes back to haunt him when his former flame returns from the dead.

Review:

Of all the post-John Wick movies released by the 87North stunt team/film studio, Love Hurts is certainly the most slight.  It lacks the dark humour of Nobody, the edge of Atomic Blonde, the comedy of Violent Night, or the twists and turns of Bullet Train – in many ways, it’s only real distinguishing quality is the likeability of its star, Ke Huy Quan.

Ke Huy Quan’s real life story is as heartwarming as any fictional Hollywood tale – after finding success as a child actor in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, he then became disillusioned with the roles he was being offered and retired from acting, until decades later he was tempted out of retirement to co-star in Everything Everywhere All At Once, which won him an Oscar and led to his current renaissance.  In the intervening years he worked as a stunt coordinator – and now Love Hurts has provided him not only with his first leading role but also a chance to exhibit his stunt credentials.

“…it’s impossible not to enjoy being in Ke Huy Quan’s company…”

On the positive side, Love Hurts works nicely as a vehicle for Ke Huy Quan, and it’s impossible not to enjoy being in his company.  And when it comes to the fight scenes, the 53-year-old Ke Huy Quan gives it his all, and there’s an exaggerated tone to the physicality of the fight sequences that reminds me of old school Jackie Chan/Hong Kong martial arts movies.

Unfortunately, outside of Ke Huy Quan and the entertainingly frenetic fight sequences, the rest of the movie is fairly forgettable.  Neither Ariana DeBose nor Daniel Wu get a great deal to work with as the object of Marvin’s affections and the main villain, although Marshawn Lynch, André Eriksen and Mustafa Shakir are reasonably amusing as various rival assassins.  Rhys Darby and Lio Tipton have small roles that are primarily comedic, but the tone of the movie is a little all over the place, and many of the various subplots feel disjointed and none have any real depth.

“…perfectly enjoyably, despite its flaws…”

The one role that did make an emotional impact was Sean Astin’s appearance as Marvin’s boss and mentor, but that resonated emotionally because of the real life bond between Sean Astin and Ke Huy Quan as much as it did because of the writing.  The dialogue is fairly flat throughout, the storyline holds few surprises, and none of the romantic entanglements feel particularly convincing.

That said, it’s a perfectly enjoyably film, despite its flaws.  Ultimately, Love Hurts isn’t the kind of film that you regret watching (once), but it’s definitely the kind of film that you may struggle to remember in six months’ time.