Year of Release: 2025
Director: Jonathan Eusebio
Starring: Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose, Mustafa Shakir, Lio Tipton, Daniel Wu, Cam Gigandet, Marshawn Lynch, André Eriksen, Rhys Darby, Sean Astin, Drew Scott, Stephanie Sy, Adam Hurtig, Liam Stewart-Kanigan
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review
"Love Hurts" is the feature directorial debut of Jonathan Eusebio, who up until now has been a second unit director for films such as David Leitch's "Deadpool 2" and Cedric Nicolas-Troyan's "Kate". The film follows the story of Marvin Gable, a well liked and successful realtor in the Milwaukee area. His boss and mentor Cliff, awards him a plaque celebrating his success and achievements. However, Marvin isn't all he's presented himself to be, he's in reality a retired assassin, who used to work for a crime lord, who also happens to be his brother. Marvin walked away from that lifestyle when he decided to help Rose, a lawyer who had been accused of stealing from his brother. Out of his love for her, he lets her escape, and then he himself decided to start a new fresh life. However Rose comes back, as she uncovers she was set up, and her life has been in shambles since she had to go underground. Marvin's brother in the meantime sends a series of killers in his direction, as he suspects Marvin may know the whereabouts of Rose.
"Love Hurts" could be considered a puzzling feature, were it not for its paltry results. Puzzling because it features two recent multiple award winner performers, both in starring roles, working with material that is clearly beneath what they're capable of doing, in this case Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose (the latter one in particular, has done nothing but mediocre features since her award winning part in "West Side Story" directed by Steven Spielberg). There really isn't much to say about this feature, since it's another one that tries to fit the mold of Chad Stahelski's "John Wick" cross-bred with Michael Davis "Shoot 'Em Up", in a genre that I like to call "Relentless Revenge". The problem with these clones, which includes "Kate", Navot Papushado's "Gunpowder Milkshake", Drew Pearce's "Hotel Artemis", Tanya Wexler's "Jolt", Gareth Evan's "Havoc", and the list goes on, is the fact that they have no discernible point of view. They cannibalize on what other filmmakers have done, and better, and try to make a similar concoction, without realizing if they have the right ingredients to deliver the same type of quality. Invariably the problems don't lie with the quality of the performers, Ke Huy Quan for instance is wonderfully committed as always, and he is always compelling to watch (not so much for Ariana DeBose, who at this time should rethink her taste in material), but in the case of "Love Hurts", the screen story is unoriginal, and its attempts at being "ironic" and "off kilter", feel crudely developed and out of place in the film. It tries to be a lot of things, to deconstruct the genre, to put a "Pulp Fiction" spin on it, but it lacks conviction, insight, and sense of humor. Another detrimental aspect to this film is the low budget, which some filmmakers manage to cleverly hide, but that in this case is always painfully obvious. The production team is uninspired, including a washed out cinematography from Bridger Nielson, and a generic score from Dominic Lewis. It's a bad film, featuring the lovely Ke Huy Quan. Hopefully he has better vehicles ahead of him.
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