“Love Hurts” raises the bar on creative stunt direction and fun martial arts action scenes, but fails to meet that bar with its characters and writing.
A recent release by breakout director Jonathan Eusebio hit theaters on Feb. 7, with the trailer making people anticipate the action-packed romance.
Previously, Eusebio had been known for coordinating and directing stunts for popular films like “John Wick” and “Black Panther”, and has now chosen to direct this 2025 martial arts revenge movie.
The most exciting thing surrounding this movie, however, had to be seeing beloved actor Ke Huy Quan cast as the lead character.
Known for his award-winning performance in “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once,” he is accompanied by supporting actress Ariana Debose. The film follows two ex-lovers as their lives intertwine in a dance of knives, kicks, and punches.
“Love Hurts” exceeds expectations in various aspects. The action scenes felt impactful, and there was power behind every punch, with strapping sound design and camera movement to support. Stunt coordination is tight and precise with intent behind each movement, and passion pouring from the seams stitched by the stunt direction.
The film follows successful realtor Marvin Gable, played by Ke Huy Quan, a simple and optimistic man with a passion for his career, whose life unexpectedly turns upside down when he receives an ominous letter from a former love interest of a life he left behind.
The character of “Marvin Gable” starts as an amazing reflection of a reformed man, manifesting the concept that your past does not define your future. This is exemplified by a lengthy dialogue Marvin directs towards a minor character very early on in the film.
Unfortunately, this uplifting and positive notion gets thrown out the window fairly quickly once introduced.
The film does well at setting up your expectations but really falls short at the point of resolution.
Rose, played by Ariana DeBose, is a perfect example of this writing. The film sets her up to be this external force, whose ideals contrast with Marvin’s, pulling him out of his world and into her’s. As the film goes on, however, we fail to see her change in any sort of meaningful way, if at all.
She remains as stagnant and uninspired from the moment she appears on screen. The film just feels like it has to tell you, the viewer, how to feel and perceive these characters and their motives, as if it’s correcting your own observations with a “Because I said so” style of writing.
There’s a constant message that Rose continues to push on Marvin throughout the film, and each time it is brought up, you can tell that effort was put into how Marvin receives it. Time is taken away from the main plot to resolve his feelings.
Ultimately, Marvin’s personal reactions just never end up mattering. The writers just make Rose right anyway. It undermines whatever character development we had up to this point.
As much praise as I give the stunts and direction in this movie, the writing and plot direction bring “Love Hurts” down on itself. Stagnant character writing, uninspiring plot points, and just too much build-up for zero payoff.
If you’d rather get your heart broken somewhere, I’d suggest anywhere instead of this film in theaters.
