Love Hurts (2025, R)

*Premise spoilers*

First new movie of 2025 for me—I snuck this one in before the Oscars, along with Brave New World. The first trailer for this movie got me so hyped, and while news of the crappy reviews was a bummer, I knew I still wanted to see it in theaters and give action hero Ke Huy Quan some love.

What’s It About?

Marvin, an upbeat realtor, receives an intense blast from the past he thought he’d put behind him. Members of his brother’s gang have turned up looking for Rose—the last person Marvin was supposed to have killed for his brother. He needs to call on his old skills to keep himself and Rose alive, while also fighting to preserve the new life he’s built for himself.

Who’s in It?

Obviously, the headline here is action-comedy star Ke Huy Quan as Marvin. He’s every bit as delightful as he was in the trailer, and he absolutely kills every joke and every fight scene. The dramatic moments ARE a bit shakier, but that’s entirely down to the lackluster script, not him. Ariana DeBose gets in on the action as Rose. The romance angle between them is a hard sell—down to the script again, and because Quan’s peak goofy-dad vibes make the age gap feel bigger than it already is. The film also features Daniel Wu as Marvin’s brother, a nice appearance from the always-welcome Sean Astin, Mustafa Shakir, and Lio Tipton (I couldn’t quite place them, but afterwards, I looked at their IMDb and realized I’d seen them in Warm Bodies.) And I was pleasantly surprised to see the one and only Rhys Darby show up as a crooked accountant for the gang!

What Do I Love About It?

·        This movie isn’t nearly everything I’d hoped it would be, but I can’t bring myself to call it a bad movie. It has a bad script, and there are times when the actors can’t overcome that. But Quan is just so much fun here! I can’t be mad at a starring vehicle for him, even if he deserved a much better story here.

·        The action scenes are an utter delight to watch. I like that, while Marvin is a certified badass, he’s not untouchable, and he takes plenty of hard hits. I also appreciate that we see the creative ways he makes use of his environment to get the upper hand on opponents who are much bigger than he is. During the fights, you can really see how well Quan could do in that Jackie Chan-esque action-comedy space.

·        To that end, they don’t pull out the big Daniel Wu guns until the third act, but the final showdown is worth the wait!

·        One thing I’d been hoping for with this film was that it would give Quan a post-Everything Everywhere All at Once opportunity to really show off his range. That movie was perfectly calibrated to highlight everything Quan can do, but many of his roles since then have leaned heavily to the “laundry Waymond” side. As much as I love that type of performance from him, he’s already proven how much more he can do. Love Hurts doesn’t realize all my hopes there—the script just isn’t up to the task—but I do find it interesting that Marvin’s upbeat, silly personality is something he’s deliberately cultivated and chosen for himself since leaving the gang. That gives it a slightly different angle than some of Quan’s other post-Everything Everywhere All at Once work, and again, the action scenes allow him to flex that side of his talent as well.

Warnings

Tons of violence, language, drinking, sexual content, and thematic elements.