Ben Cahlamer
JoJo Esuebio’s directorial debut, Love Hurts, is a familiar story. Familiar with its themes, character archetypes, style, and its level of violence. The level of romance and sensuality was refreshing to see in such a film, the kind that Hollywood has typically shied away from in recent decades. What earns this 83-minute little yarn praise? That would be Academy Award-winner Ke Huy Quan’s (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) performance.
The actor moves with the skill of Jackie Chan, and the story’s themes fit the character. Quan fills the under-baked character development with his inimitable charm and swift movements. As Marvin Gable, a Milwaukee real estate broker, puts on a terrific dog-and-pony act for prospective home buyers, fighting for every sale opportunity against his rivals, his past violently comes back to haunt him. Underneath the extreme positivity behind selling real estate, Marvin was once a hitman.
Love Hurts’ script, written by Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, and Guy Danella, uses tried-and-true themes to carry Marvin from faint callbacks to a previous life, coupled with his present where Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose’s Rose (West Side Story), whom Marvin was thought to have killed, resurfaces. Quan and DeBose’s scintillating time on-screen is more suggestive than sensual. The actress’s chemistry works better here than in Argylle. She seethes confidently.
As Rose’s various markers are delivered to Marvin, he learns that his gangster brother, Alvin “Knuckles” Gable (Daniel Wu of Tomb Raider and Warcraft) is hunting him. Knuckles, with his conveniently appropriated boba iced teas, is probably the classiest, slickest gangster seen in quite a while. Wu shines in his minimalistic approach to another undercooked role, though Eusebio knows how to use his pawns, and the script doesn’t mince visuals or dialog.
When it comes to the hitmen, The Raven (Mustafa Shakir) stands out with his killer poetry, as do Super Bowl champion Marshawn Lynch as King, and his partner, Andre Eriksen’s Otis with their sly on-the-rocks relationship talk. They serve as the other hapless goon squad sent after Marvin to find out where Rose is. King and Otis are spiritual kin of Tony Darvo and Joey from Martin Brest’s Midnight Run or even Rosewood and Taggart from Brest’s Beverly Hills Cop, with each pair’s barbs and jests playing just as well today as they did in the 1980s. Lynch and Eriksen appear to have a lot of fun with their roles, and it shows.
Everything in Love Hurts revolves around Quan’s ability to easily play the calm, cool, yet positively excitable real estate broker Marvin. The actor’s hyperkinetic state elicits chuckles. As his past is brought out, Quan transitions seamlessly between the two states with great precision. This isn’t a case of split personalities but a true reveal of what makes his character tick stemming from the actor’s performance.
As Ashley, Marvin’s assistant, Lio Tipton’s performance is comedically rock-steady. Ashley is like many of us—bored with their career and looking for excitement in her life. The subplot involving Ashley and The Raven is the strongest developed set of characterizations, as is Sean Astin’s bit role as Cliff Cussik, Marvin’s boss. The story relies on the well-known actors inhabiting the supportive roles, a disappointment in the storytelling. Cam Gigandet’s Renny Merlo feels shoehorned in as an excuse to drive a yin-yang rivalry chase to see whose hitman can catch up with Marvin.
Is Love Hurts perfect? No. What works strongly in its favor is Eusebio’s background as a stunt coordinator and his work here with cinematographer Bridger Nielson frames the action blended with the dramatic and the humorous. There were moments where Love Hurts felt like an extension of John Wick, though not as atmospheric, relying on goofy hitmen from many other films to carry the throughline. Other moments, especially in Knuckles’ lair where Murray, Stoddard, and Danella lifted elements directly from Che-Kirk Wong’s The Big Hit, though not as intentionally funny, with the characters throwing barbs and ominous stares at each other before breaking out into a fight.
Love Hurts’ biggest strength, besides Ke Huy Quan, is its message: “Hiding ain’t living.” Marvin is still living with his past haunting him creating a facade of a present. He must face that past if he is ever to be truly free to live his life, emphasized in the confrontation between Marvin and Knuckles, directly and indirectly.
Early box office tracking appears soft against the modest $18 million budget. It should survive with a positive audience word-of-mouth. Love Hurts’ claim to eventual cult classic status will be based on the reunion between Goonies’ co-stars, Ke Huy Quan and Sean Astin. While the story should resonate with martial arts fans and rough-and-tumble romance fans, the underbaked characterizations and minimalistic atmosphere potentially undermine an enjoyable escape to the movies. Quan’s fantastic performance is centrifugal to enjoying Love Hurts.
