Love Hurts (2025)
Directed by: Jonathan Eusebio
Premise: A former mob enforcer (Ke Huy Quan) has reinvented himself as a successful relator. He’s dragged back into a life of violence by a former colleague (Ariana DeBose).
What Works: Actor Ke Huy Quan has talents for martial arts and physical comedy which were used so effectively in Everything Everywhere All at Once. While Love Hurts is nowhere near as creative or fun as that film, some of the early martial arts sequences do have unusual images and fight choreography. Quan’s character uses office supplies and kitchen tools as weapons and that’s fun.
What Doesn’t: Action films usually escalate with one set piece outdone by the next, building toward a climax. In Love Hurts, the energy and creativity of the early fight scenes quickly drops off and the climactic confrontation is not interesting or engaging. It feels lazy, full of action movie cliches and uninspired choreography. Part of the problem is the lack of dramatic interest. The set pieces of action films should act out a dramatic conflict that the audience is invested in and the action ought to advance character and plot. A lot of the action of Love Hurts feels obligatory. All of this fighting accomplishes nothing. Ke Huy Quan’s character is a former mob enforcer who has left the criminal life. Quan is believable as the chipper real estate agent but not at all as a former killer. The movie suggests that Quan’s character has to get back in touch with his violent side to survive but that transformation is never conveyed nor does it come with a cost. Love Hurts is also intended to be a romance with Quan’s character in love with a former mob lawyer played by Ariana DeBose. They have no romantic chemistry. It’s hard to believe that Quan’s character would ever pair with her because he is so upbeat and optimistic but DeBose plays her character like a psychopath. The romance and the action don’t match at all and Love Hurts whiplashes between dissonant tones.
Disc extras: The 4K Blu-Ray disc includes an alternate ending, deleted scenes, interviews, and featurettes.
Bottom Line: Love Hurts wastes very talented actors in a poorly conceived mix of action and romance. It’s underwhelming as an action picture and it’s a complete failure as a love story.
Episode: #1084 (January 25, 2026)