The Reel Review
Marvin, a mild-mannered Milwaukee realtor, is forced to rely on his previously-acquired skills as a lethal hitman when his crime lord brother discovers on Valentine’s Day that his crime syndicate’s attorney, who stole from him and also was Marvin’s love interest, is alive years after Marvin’s brother ordered him to kill her. Oscar-winners Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) and Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) star in this action/romantic comedy.
If you have no interest in a coherent story but are a fan of Quan and have a fantasy of seeing him destroy open houses during an hour and 20 minutes of heavily choreographed martial arts fight scenes, then by all means, Love Hurts is tailor-made for you. As for the rest of us…
…Quan and DeBose have absolutely zero onscreen romantic chemistry and the threadbare plot is pretty insufferable, with a sluggish and repetitive midsection that feels like time filler. Sean Astin, who appears as the owner of the real estate agency, however, is a highlight. But you know you are in trouble when the silly subplots are more entertaining than the main storyline.
REEL FACTS
• Ke Huy Quan first started studying martial arts as a child, for his role in 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, parlaying it into a second career as a fight coordinator and action choreographer in 2000’s X-Men and 2001’s The One. Quan returned to acting in 2022’s Everything Everywhere All At Once, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
• Ke Huy Quan and Sean Astin previously appeared together in 1985’s The Goonies.
• Although set in Milwaukee, Love Hurts was filmed in Winnipeg, Canada.
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