By John Corrado

Love Hurts is a new romantic action comedy that is mainly set up as a star vehicle for recent supporting actor Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose.

Quan, of course, is the former child star of The Goonies and Temple of Doom who won Best Supporting Actor for his big comeback film Everything Everywhere All at Once in 2022, while DeBose took home Best Supporting Actress for Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story a year prior.

They were both among the most memorable additions to their respective films, so the idea of putting them together is naturally appealing. Which is why the bland and unoriginal Love Hurts, directed by former stuntman Jonathan “JoJo” Eusebio, is so disappointing.

Quan stars as Marvin Gable, a former hitman who has set up a new life for himself as a real estate agent, selling cookie cutter homes in a boring suburban neighbourhood. But his past comes back to haunt him when old flame Rose Carlisle (DeBose) comes back into his life, and he finds out that he is being tracked by his brother Alvin “Knuckles” Gable (Daniel Wu), who wants to kill him.

With its themes of reinventing yourself, and ample room for creative fight scenes, on paper this seems like an ideal showcase for former child star turned stuntman Quan, following his Oscar win. Quan even gets to reunite with his Goonies co-star Sean Astin, who appears as Marvin’s realtor mentor. But Love Hurts ends up being a tonally confused mess, that is not exciting enough as an action movie, and not funny or romantic enough to work as a romance or comedy.

Eusebio’s film does feature some decent fight choreography, but it’s undercut by the poor framing and editing choices. For a film inspired by Hong Kong action movies, Love Hurts is never stylized enough for the fight scenes to really pop, and has an overly flat, off-putting visual aesthetic. It’s not helped by the thoroughly generic storyline about the reemergence of a former lover and a past rival, with characters that feel even more one-note and are tasked with providing constant exposition.

The stakes themselves are lessened by the uneasy mix of tones. Quan does have an appealing screen presence, but aspects of DeBose’s performance feel misjudged, like she is miscast in this role. It’s a film that never particularly works for a multitude of reasons, and leaves us wanting a much better showcase for these talented actors.

Film Rating: ★½ (out of 4)

Bonus Features (Blu-ray):

The Blu-ray disc includes a handful of bonus features. The package ships with a standard slipcover.

• Alternate Ending (1 minute, 54 seconds)

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (Play All – 6 minutes, 54 seconds)

• Lovers in the Park (24 seconds)
• Dog Poop (36 seconds)
• Last Client (18 seconds)
• Dead Roses (43 seconds)
• Extended Knuckles and Merlo (1 minute, 49 seconds)
• Kippy’s Teeth (27 seconds)
• Extended Otis and King (1 minute, 27 seconds)
• Extended Raven and Ash (1 minute, 13 seconds)

• The Ke to Gable (3 minutes, 33 seconds): Quan talks about training for the fight scenes, and being inspired by Hong Kong action movies.

• The Heart of Love Hurts (7 minutes, 34 seconds): The cast talks about their different characters, their dynamics together, and choreographing the fight scenes.

• Stunts Hurt (10 minutes, 37 seconds): Takes us through the blocking behind each of the main fight sequences.

Love Hurts is a Universal Pictures Home Entertainment release. It’s 83 minutes and rated 14A.

Street Date: April 1st, 2025