LOVE HURTS – My Review

I had high hopes for this movie, seeing it was from the producers of NOBODY and VIOLENT NIGHT, both very good action movies. VIOLENT NIGHT features David Harbour as a kick-ass Santa, magic and machine guys – so yeah, it’s good. I wasn’t sure if Ke Huy Quan could pull off the action part in LOVE HURTS, but Bob Odenkirk did in NOBODY, and that was unexpected as well. So hopes were high.

Quan, an Academy Award Winner, plays a real estate agent, Marvin Gable with a secret. Luckily for us, that secret didn’t stay secret for too long, and the first action scene comes quite quickly. And it’s really good.

The camera work following the punches, the throws, the body angles, the knives – the camera person must’ve been doing some real gymnastics during filming. This is humorous / violent content, blood done with laughs. If you like Jackie Chan, but also some gore, you’ll like this.

Quan has a unique voice, which you might say is “funny” sounding. If you heard him back in the day, in GOONIES where he played the android “Data,” or saw him in INDIANA JONES – I LEFT MY HEART IN INDIA, where he played Short Stack, you’ve heard his voice. Now he’s decades older than when he was Pop Secret with Indy. It’s been a while since I’ve seen either movie – hope I got the details right.

This odd voice, coupled with glasses hides something dark underneath the friendly Realtor exterior. As one of his co-stars, playing as a long-lost love says, he has the Clark Kent thing going on. Odd Job, a former employee of his gangster brother, has now vanished into his new life, who wants to move you into a new home. These are some nice, pricey homes as well – what do these people do for jobs??? Their first home is over a million bucks, easy!

Finally achieving a goal in his new life, Hot Pocket meets with his boss, a reunion of Goonies actors, with Sean Astin as Cliff. It’s been a long time, so I had to look it up to make sure they were in that movie together. Astin plays his short, but important part well.

Let’s look at the Clark Kent / Superman situation of our star – when those glasses come off, and Quan strikes a pose, his body now a weapon, he’s a leading man, sexy as hell. (So weird, while I was writing this – VOGUE came on the radio. Strike a pose…!)

The gangster brother, Knuckles, is played by Daniel Wu, a familiar face if you’ve ever seen a Martial Arts action flick in the past 20 years. His fight style? You’ll never look at boba the same way again. He has several minions, each with a nickname and a humorous take on fighting, serious fighting, but with an upturned lip.

The thin, but serviceable plot, is about Shot Put reuniting with the love he left for dead and her acts of revenge. That’s pretty much it, and it’s all you need for this 90-ish minute quick-paced kick and punch, shoot, stab and feather-fest. Feathers? Yes, feathers.

The love, Rose, is played by Ariana DeBose, who won an Academy Award for her work in WEST SIDE STORY. Didn’t see that, but she’s very good here, aside from suffering from the weakness a lot of women experience in movies – not being able to take punches like the guys can. Oh, she can take a punch, until it’s necessary for her to be saved or endangered, then it’s like someone ran by with kryptonite in their pocket. Boomph, she’s down. Guy runs off, she gets back up, all powerful again. Uh oh, jogger dropped an ear bud, he runs past again, boomph, she’s down…

There’s more to this Valentine movie than Long Putt reconnecting with Rose. There’s true love to be found with supporting characters, funny, but sweet. Won’t spoil it here.

Watch for a really good cameo from one of HGTV’s biggest stars.

Let’s talk about the director, Jonathan Eusebio. This is his first outing as a director. He has plenty of experience in front of and behind the camera, and as a stunt person. His direction, from the big camera movements, to the little tweaks adds to the fun. Excellent job.

LOVE HURTS is fun, worth going to the theatre, and as always, our movie group goes on discount day, so it’s even better when it’s cheap. I’m looking forward to this coming to streaming so I can catch it again from the couch. LOVE HURTS – it hurts so good.