After nearly four decades in the film industry, Ke Huy Quan is finally a leading man–and his role in Jonathan Eusebio’s directorial debut Love Hurts is an unlikely catalyst for a fun, comedic, kung fu romp filled with complex, irreverent characters and, of course, love.
Love Hurts tells the story of Marvin Gable (Quan), a wholesome and well-regarded real estate agent whose face adorns the benches of his Midwest city. Marvin bakes heart-shaped cookies, promises his customers, “I want a home for you!” and provides amateur life advice to those around him, including his chronically-depressed and cynical assistant Ashley (played by non-binary actor and model Lio Tipton).
It’s on one fateful Valentine’s Day that Marvin’s curated life as a real estate agent is brought to a halt–by a Valentine’s Day card. It’s not just a card, of course. The Valentine’s greeting that Marvin receives is one in a series sent by allegedly dead, former mobster Rose (Ariana DeBose) to Marvin and all of their former gang associates… except the cards’ messages are less about love and more about revenge.
That fateful card forces Marvin to come face-to-face with his past as a mob enforcer for his older brother Alvin “Knuckles” Gable (Daniel Wu). It’s revealed that Marvin abandoned his role as his brother’s muscle three years prior because he was tasked with killing Rose, who had allegedly stolen millions from Knuckles’ business. But Marvin, in love with Rose, couldn’t kill her. After letting Rose go and telling her to go into hiding, Marvin left his life in the criminal underground. He then became a real estate mentee to ten-gallon hat-wearing, country wisdom-toting Cliff (played by Quan’s former castmate from The Goonies and Encino Man, Sean Astin).
Rose’s return puts everyone she was involved with–Marvin, Knuckles’ goons, and Knuckles himself–on high alert. Her reappearance also puts a target on Marvin’s head, since he was supposed to have axed Rose years ago. Marvin’s fighting skills are first put on display when he fights with sad boy poet assassin Raven (Mustafa Shakir) and again when he takes on the dynamic dude duo, King (Marshawn Lynch) and Otis (André Eriksen) in his Wisconsin townhome. When Marvin finally reunites with Rose, he asks her why she couldn’t just stay dead.
But Rose is sick of hiding, and she plans on using her Valentine’s Day cards to get her life, and her crush Marvin, back. Her plans will require a lot of bloodshed, a lot of plotting, and, of course, a lot of self-reflection, from both her and her would-be love. Rose’s return will force Marvin to decide–a return to love that requires he return to his old ways, or the loss of love in favour of his life as the winner of a regional real estate award?
What is most enjoyable about this quirky actioner is the combination of complex character acting with a script that was both absurd and hilarious. Every character is their own universe, and their motivations bring this film’s plot to the edge of absurdity in a way that’s undeniably fun. Audiences will be endeared by Quan’s wholesome yet vicious Marvin Gable and intrigued by DeBose’s complicated (and very stylish) Rose. Also worth noting is Wu’s horrifying, yet very attractive, performance as a boba-drinking mob boss who, at one point, turns a boba straw into a fatal weapon.
Even those characters who only graced the screen for a short time, like Kippy (played by Rhys Darby) and Marvin’s real estate competitor Jeff Zaks (played by one half of the Property Brothers, Drew Scott), add a je ne se quoi to a film that is, on the whole, a wild ride.
It could be said that, at times, Love Hurts lags; amid all the action, the love connection between Marvin and Rose could have used some beefing up. What does it say that the sudden romance between assistant Ashley and assassin Raven seems steamier than Marvin and Rose’s supposed years of pining?
Though, on the whole, Love Hurts is a film that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It stands as an homage to multiple genres, from Asian gangster films, kung fu movies, and maybe even a little Foxy Brown with DeBose’s hardboiled character. And, in the middle of it all, Quan’s combination of Golden Retriever goofiness and badass enforcer expertise make this an enjoyably campy and, at times, heart-warming viewing experience. It hasn’t been reviewed highly by other publications, but Love Hurts is just the kind of movie to make you rethink love–and, maybe, your next boba order.
Love Hurts was released in the United Kingdom on February 7th.