Love Hurts (2025 | US | 83 minutes | Jonathan Eusebio)
Marvin (Ke Huy Kwan) is a simple, easy-going and enthusiastic real estate agent in Milwaukee. He has his sights set on being the best of the best and it shows in every crumb of the fresh-baked cookies he makes for potential clients and co-workers alike. Soon it comes out that Marvin has a past he’d rather forget, a long-lost love (Ariana Debose) that suddenly re-emerges and a brother (Daniel Wu) who is hoping to wrangle him back into the family business. As his old crush comes back into his life, he’s forced to reckon with his old ways and decide what he wants his future to look like whether it’s with her or not.
Love Hurts has a simple premise: Bad guy trying to turn good and to be a better person; then when he finally seems to be making it happen, his past rears its ugly head to bring him back down into the dirt. This trope has been told in many ways, serious and bloody, funny and charming, silly and bloody, etc etc etc. This one falls in the last column with a lot of silly and and some bloody extensive fight scenes. This concept can go one of a few ways, but all of them require an expert level of writing, acting and comedic timing. That’s not an easy thing to pull off and I’m distraught to say that Love Hurts didn’t manage to make that happen.
I’m not exactly sure where it fell short, but it wasn’t at any one thing you can point your finger. My highlights were mainly specific actors and how they pulled off roles when the story just felt flat. Ke Huy Kwan was lovely, the right amount of sweet with a small nasty edge to him when it was necessary. Maybe if there was a some better direction or editing his mean side could have come off more like a blade than a butter knife though. Fellow assassin The Raven (Mustafa Shakir) had a menacing and powerful presence and a believable sensitive side as a poet. However his quick-to-love relationship with Marvin’s assistant Ashley (Lio Tipton) felt forced with little to no chemistry, so several times it just felt cringy. Marvin’s brother Alvin was well-done and it felt like he was the right mix of mostly dangerous mafia boss with a tinge of silly from his bubble tea habit. The last highlight was Marvin’s boss Cliff (Sean Astin), who wasn’t even in most scenes but when he was, it was solid and even thoughtful. I may have a soft spot for Astin, but I don’t think that’s the reason he stood out for me.
I wanted to love Love Hurts so badly, with so many great actors and personalities in the mix, I thought for sure it would be fun at the very least. I had been eager to see it and when the opportunity arose, I was all over it. I can’t tell you how much it bothers me to have to write this, but “meh” is the best descriptor I could offer. Perhaps there are parts of the film I can appreciate now on a second watch, but I just wasn’t delighted as I left the theater like I was hoping.
Love Hurts is in theaters now