Love Hurts
Directed by Jonathan Eusebio
Written by Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, and Luke Passmore
Starring Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose, Daniel Wu, Marshawn Lynch 
Rated R
Runtime: 1 hour and 23 minutes
In theaters February 7

by Tessa Swehla, Associate Editor

Watching Ke Huy Quan’s triumphant career resurgence that began with 2022’s Everything Everywhere All at Once (dirs. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) and has continued with roles in Disney television series American Born Chinese and Loki has been nothing short of joyous. As a lifelong fan of his two most iconic characters from his early career–Short Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (dir. Steven Spielberg, 1984) and Data from The Goonies (dir. Richard Donner, 1985)–it was devastating to learn that he was essentially shut out of Hollywood once he was no longer a cute goofy child. Quan has attributed this fallow time to the lack of roles written for Asian men, who are often not seen as either leading man nor romantic lead material in American films. Playing opposite Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere allowed him to demonstrate his remarkable charisma and flexibility as an actor as well as highlight his action prowess.

In his latest film, Love Hurts (dir. Jonathan Eusebio), Quan finally gets his first leading role since 1991. He plays Marvin Gable, an enthusiastic realtor whose dark past as a hitman for his brother’s mob comes back to haunt him. Several years prior, Marvin had allowed former crush and mobster Rose Carlisle (Ariana Debose) to live after his brother (Alvin “Knuckles” Gable, played by Daniel Wu) had ordered her execution for stealing from the organization. She went on the run, and Marvin quit the mob, starting a new life selling houses under the tutelage of realty mogul Cliff Cussack (Sean Astin; yes, this is a The Goonies reunion!). But now, Rose is back, and she wants Marvin to join her quest to free herself from Knuckles’ shadow. And maybe finally resolve the feelings between them.

Quan deftly balances the comedy and action needed for this role: in different hands, this character could have felt disjointed. Marvin is a cheerful and earnest guy, baking pink heart cookies and rattling off cliché aphorisms to his clients. He tells his assistant Ashley (Lio Tipton) that in order to find meaning in life, they must embrace who they are and what they love. Director Eusebio has claimed that he knew Quan was perfect for the role of Marvin as he was watching Quan accept award after award for Everything Everywhere: “He was giving all these inspiring speeches. To see that inspired me to go, ‘Man, this guy makes everyone feel good about themselves.’” This effusive generosity dominates the character initially; there is no sign of “the monster” that both Knuckles and Rose claim is inside him. 

Eusebio–who is an alum of the David Leitch and Chad Stahelski stunt performer school and worked as a fight coordinator on John Wick (2014) and second unit director on Deadpool 2 (2018)–emphasizes Marvin’s reluctance to return to the underworld in the fight choreography. One of the great early fights in the film involves Marvin trying to fend off goons King (the incredibly funny Marshawn Lynch) and Otis (André Eriksen) while desperately clutching his hard-earned Regional Realtor of the Year plaque recently awarded him. His movements show his expertise in martial arts, but he’s rusty and distracted, allowing King and Otis–whose fighting style evokes that of a professional wrestling tag team–to land some gnarly blows. As the film progresses, Marvin begins to embrace his past self, becoming more fluid and deadly with each confrontation. Quan himself has worked as a stunt coordinator and assistant director on several films, both in Hollywood with X-men (2000) and in Hong Kong with The Avenging Fist (2001) and 2046 (2004), so to see him work with Eusebio to highlight the choreography in each fight, embracing long takes and unusual camera angles. Between Quan and Eusebio, Love Hurts feels like a love letter to Hong Kong kung fu movies and the films of Jackie Chan while still embracing the more American tradition of the romantic comedy.

The supporting cast is also excellent. In my Best of 2024: The 15 best science fiction movies of the year article, I proclaimed myself “ready for the Ariana DeBose action era,” little knowing that Love Hurts would give that to me in the form of Rose, who is equal parts badass and silly. Rose constantly teases Marvin, trying to simultaneously provoke and flirt with the oblivious realtor. I found myself wishing that we could have seen a moment with them before they both left the mob to better establish the history of their romantic chemistry; I’m baffled as to why this movie didn’t just embrace the second chance elements that are already there but not fully explored. Both Quan and Debose are having a lot of fun with the dynamic between them, and I just wanted more of it in the film.

In addition to Lynch and Eriksen, Rhys Darby has a scene stealing role as a sniveling accountant menaced by Rose and Marvin. Wu, a veteran of the Hong Kong action scene, plays Knuckles as a straightforward mobster, but with fun quirks like an obsession with boba. He and Quan play out their relationship on screen as a melodrama, which is, again, reminiscent of Hong Kong cinema. Marvin’s assistant Ashley and assassin Raven (Mustafa Shakir) have their own parallel storyline filled with romance tropes, echoing and doubling Rose and Marvin’s relationship. Every character has an arc, but the film never feels overcrowded for its hour and 23 minute runtime.

The film does have its weaknesses. There is a lot of exposition, both in voiceover by Quan and Debose, and in the dialogue itself. Every plot point seems to be explained several times over, which can be distracting at times. This is fortunately counterbalanced by some fantastic visual storytelling, but I still found myself wishing that the writers had done one more edit of the script to remove some unnecessary dialogue and the voiceovers. I don’t need to be told that Marvin loves Rose–I need to see more of it in the film, which, again, could have been corrected by including more second chance romance elements.

This wasn’t enough to dampen my enjoyment of this rollicking good time of an action comedy movie. Love Hurts is an amusing and impressive showcase of Quan’s acting and action chops as well as rebuke to every casting director who couldn’t figure out what to do with him in the ‘90s.

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