83 min | R | February 7, 2025 | Universal Pictures
Ke Huy Quan plays a retired hitman whose brother wants him dead. Ariana DeBose shows up as the ex-partner. The film is eighty-three minutes and feels longer.
Ke Huy Quan won an Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once and earned a leading role. He deserved that. He does not deserve this. Love Hurts is a low-budget action comedy that thinks quirky editing and fast cuts can substitute for coherent action choreography. It cannot. The film wastes two talented actors on a script that feels like a first draft nobody bothered to revise.
Quan plays a realtor who used to be a hitman. His brother, played by Daniel Wu, wants revenge for reasons the film barely bothers to explain. Ariana DeBose shows up as Quan’s former partner and tries to bring energy to scenes that give her nothing to work with. The action is poorly staged. The comedy falls flat. The emotional beats are nonexistent.
The film tries to be John Wick for the quirky set and fails to understand what made John Wick work. Wick earned its action through world-building and character work. This one just throws Quan into fights and hopes his likability carries it. It doesn’t. The film looks cheap. The digital effects are embarrassing.