Ke Huy Quan has been enjoying quite a renaissance following his career-saving role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. The former child actor now has an Academy Award on his resume, which has led to some TV opportunities — including joining the MCU with Loki — as well as several upcoming projects on the 2025 movie calendar. The first of these is Love Hurts, an action comedy co-starring fellow Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, and ahead of its release in theaters on February 7, critics had the chance to give it a watch. Let’s see what they have to say.
In Love Hurts, Marvin Gable (Ke Huy Quan), a hitman-turned-realtor, sees his past come back to haunt him when his former partner Rose (Ariana DeBose) reveals that Marvin’s brother, crime boss Knuckles (Daniel Wu), is coming after them. In CinemaBlend’s review of Love Hurts, Eric Eisenberg says Ke Huy Quan shines in this role, but DeBose is too often kept hidden. The actors’ charm is ultimately overshadowed by generic action in this entertaining, but underwhelming flick. He gives it 2.5 out of 5 stars, writing:
It has a distinct and welcomed flavor in the subgenre of ‘ordinary guy turns out to be an elite ass-kicker,’ and it has an effective buoyancy that can in part be credited to the charisma of its two biggest stars, but it’s too brisk for its own good and leaves too much on the table. I surprise even myself bemoaning brevity in an age of bloat, but Love Hurts is also just too thin to do everything that it wants to do.
Ke Huy Quan has said Steven Spielberg influenced his decision to accept this role, and David Fear of Rolling Stone agrees Quan deserves a chance to showcase his skills in a leading role, but this “lazy action flick” isn’t it. Love may hurt, Fear says, but not as much as watching a great actor stuck in a bad movie. The critic continues:
A stock riff on the ol’ former-killer-dragged-back-into-the-life scenario, this star vehicle for Quan couldn’t feel more D.O.A., even if the star himself gamely tries to inject life into it at every opportunity. The mix of behind-the-camera pedigree, name-above-the-title novelty and the actor’s newly minted ass-kicking persona should have made this a surefire mix of thrills, spills, humor and mayhem. What’s onscreen, however, just feels like a lot of poorly choreographed chaos masquerading as an action movie. Fans of the genre might want to consider suing for false advertising.
Nearly all of the critics seem to be praising Ke Huy Quan, but lamenting the fact that he deserves a script with more for the Oscar winner to work with. A.A. Dowd of IGN gives Love Hurts a “Bad” 4 out of 10, saying the movie doesn’t do as much as other very similar (and better) movies to make the “cuddly” Quan feel dark enough to have once killed people for a living. Dowd continues:
The action is reasonably well choreographed – hardly a surprise, coming from Jonathan Eusebio, a veteran fight coordinator making his directorial debut. But as a comedy, Love Hurts is pretty stale; when not trotting out dopey crime-flick caricatures, it’s simply leaning on the supposed hilarity of a sunny house hunter with a secret talent for breaking bones. You’ve seen many versions of this premise, and better ones, too.
Pete Hammond of Deadline says the cast of Love Hurts — particularly the leads, but the supporting actors as well — do what they can with the script they were given, but it’s not enough to save this violent Valentine’s movie. Hammond says:
Quan gets his first leading role here and certainly demonstrates his Jackie Chan-like skill at martial arts, impressively handling all the action in style. Chemistry with co-star DeBose is lacking, but on her own she does what she can with the underwritten femme fatale role she is handed here. Both these talented stars deserve so much better than this forgettable material. Among the supporting cast, Shakir turns from vicious hitman to love-sick puppy on a dime in amusing fashion, and it is fun to see Quan’s Goonies co-star Sean Astin turn up as his real estate mentor, if only briefly.
Mae Abdulbaki of ScreenRant has a more complimentary view of the film overall, saying it falls into “so bad it’s good” territory with its campiness. It’s so silly, over the top and corny that Abdulbaki couldn’t help but laugh out loud. The critic gives Love Hurts a 6 out of 10 and writes:
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.
Any moviegoers looking to enjoy their next dose of Ke Huy Quan may want to temper their expectations. While he gives a worthy effort — as well as the rest of the cast — critics seem to collectively think the script doesn’t live up to Quan’s potential. That doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyed anyway, and if Love Hurts sounds like the movie for you, catch the movie in theaters starting Friday, February 7.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
