Love Hurts Review: I Couldn't Help But Laugh Throughout Ke Huy Quan's Enjoyably Campy Valentine's Day Actioner Despite Major Flaws

There have been quite a few films lately tackling the romance genre, and specifically Valentine’s Day, differently. Heart Eyes gave the genre a horror spin, while Love Hurts — also set around Valentine’s Day — comes alive with action and well-choreographed fights. It’s also dripping with comical sap, so silly, over-the-top, and corny that I couldn’t help but laugh. Perhaps that’s the magic of Ke Huy Quan, Daniel Wu, and a game Ariana DeBose, whose performance would be considered overzealous in any other film.

Directed by Jonathan Eusebio from a screenplay by Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, and Luke Pᴀssmore, Love Hurts is one of those films that’s so bad it’s good. That’s a big part of what makes it fun; it knows exactly what it’s trying to be and plays well within that sandbox. It’s tonally imbalanced and certain scenes end abruptly as it switches back and forth between several characters who are all somehow connected. Quan is charming and funny, but easily shifts to an ᴀss-kicking action hero in a second.

When we first meet Quan’s Marvin Gable, he’s an enthusiastic realtor who just loves selling homes to people. He’s so good at his job that he wins the regional realtor award for his work, an award that comes into play in surprising ways throughout the movie. But in these films, nothing good lasts forever, and Marvin’s past life — as a killer who worked for his boba-loving brother Alvin “Knuckles” Gable (Wu) — comes back to haunt him with the return of the vengeful Rose (DeBose), who was left for ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and accused of stealing Knuckles’ money.

Love Hurts Knows Exactly What It’s Trying To Be

The plot has a lot of moving parts, including a subplot featuring Marvin’s sad employee, Ashley (Leo Tipton), falling in love with The Raven (Mustafa Shakir), who’s tasked with killing Marvin. Though I dare say only a couple of them actually work. There isn’t enough focus on any of them, in particular, but Love Hurts is also not trying to pull any emotions from us. We root for the characters because they’re fun and zany.

The plot on the whole makes sense, but digging any deeper into the narrative would be a waste of time. The filmmakers know this so they keep the story going at a swift pace and throw in a few action sequences to appease us. And that they do. I couldn’t help but have a great time with the movie’s camp. The experience of watching Love Hurts provides uninhibited enjoyment. It’s deliberate in its narrative extravagance, and the action scenes — which are expertly crafted and make good use of domestic objects like cookie cutters and refrigerators — and the actors’ off-the-wall performances follow suit.

Ke Huy Quan Is A Highlight Of Love Hurts

Ariana DeBose’s Performance Is Hilariously Theatrical

Quan is always easy to love and that’s no different here. The actor plays Marvin with an earnest sincerity that I instantly believed how much he cared about his job and carving out a new life for himself. Audiences will get a kick out of Quan’s interactions with Sean Astin, who plays Marvin’s boss, making for a nice mini The Goonies reunion onscreen. Shakir as a knife-throwing killer with a soft spot for love is also a standout. The actor’s eyes are very expressive and he plays into the comical side of things incredibly well.

DeBose gives the most theatrical performance of the cast, though, and she relishes her role, chewing scenery with gusto and hilarity that borderlines cringe. Perhaps the most unbelievable thing about the film is Rose and Marvin’s romance, with the actors lacking chemistry and a 19-year age difference that is so obvious I couldn’t stop thinking about it whenever they crossed paths.

It’s deliberate in its narrative extravagance, and the action scenes — which are expertly crafted and make good use of domestic objects like cookie cutters and refrigerators — and the actors’ off-the-wall performances follow suit.

Despite this, Love Hurts manages to be entertaining. There’s way too much exposition and intrusively distracting voiceovers from Quan and DeBose that tell us exactly what’s on their characters’ minds at the moment. The tone and subplots (and even some of the editing) are all over the place, but it’s also campy goodness that you can’t help but be tickled by. It’s a silly kind of bad that I could get on board with.

The film is ultimately an action comedy that is as sickly saccharine and over-the-top as Valentine’s Day itself. For a cool hour and 23 minutes, Love Hurts allows us to enjoy every minute of its absurdity, and you’ll never look at a boba straw the same way ever again.