The Wasteland Reviewer

Love Hurts (2025) Written Review

What would you do for the person you love? This is a question that will certainly be floating around a lot this time of year for sure. Valentine’s Day is a day loved by many and hated by just as many. If you have someone to share it with, you are probably trying to figure out what to do on the big day. There is a wildly fun, hilarious, and romantic flick that checks a lot of boxes. A former henchman in his brother’s gang left that life behind because of a woman he loves. This man finds a new life in the world of real estate. But when that woman reappears in his life and violence comes down upon him, the beast inside is awakened. Welcome to Love Hurts. 

What are the biggest selling points for Love Hurts? Action. Humor. Romance. Director Jonathan Eusebio can accomplish it all. Former stunt coordinator turned director; Eusebio has the right eye for all the action. The choreography is expertly put together and the action is sharply rendered. The film avoids pitfalls like too many cuts to deliver sharp, over-the-top action. But Eusebio can inject plenty of physical humor into these sequences as well. A few inspired set pieces and shots make this quite a memorable experience. Along with the physical comedy, there are plenty of fun moments thanks to charming dialogue and deliveries from the cast. There is plenty of romance to go around in this little flick as well. The dynamic between Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose is simple yet effective and fits this old school feel of a film. Eusebio can mix exploitation, spaghetti western, and martial arts elements into one old school package (with the needle drops to match). 

Does the script match the energy that Eusebio is bringing from behind the camera? Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, and Luke Passmore can pack A LOT into a film that is only 80 minutes with the credits. But that is not necessarily a good thing. There are elements of the story that feel significant and relate closely to the central conflict. Many of the threads center around the central triangle of Quan’s Marvin, Debose’s Rose, and Daniel Wu’s Knuckles but there are still a few that feel less interesting. There are some added layers of complexity with Knuckles right hand guy (Cam Gigandet’s Merlo) but he is wholly uninteresting. Lio Tipton portrays Marvin’s assistant Ashely, and she has a whole romantic subplot of her own which certainly has its moments but feels a little unnecessary. There are some strong support elements from Sean Astin’s Cliff who is Marvin’s mentor as well as the dynamic duo of henchmen portrayed by Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch and Andre Ericksen. The themes of the film are quite clunky as well. It is all about love and family, but the film is incredibly blunt about it with plenty of narration to remind you. Not so subtle but there is still a good heart to the film. 

What is one of the most satisfying elements of the film? The cast. Quan does a great job of being so wholesome and kind but slowly allowing for anger and danger underneath to start boiling to the surface. DeBose is so darn charming and alluring while delivering a cool performance straight out of 70s exploitation films. Wu might not get a ton to work with, but he has some fun quirks (he loves that Boba Tea) and delivers with physicality (his final confrontation with Quan is just fantastic). Lynch is a real standout on the comedy side as he is quickly becoming a go to comedic character actor. Astin brings so much heart and as charming as ever Rhys Darby brings some laughs. Tipton brings a more cynical vibe that works well for contrast in the film and Mustafa Shakir plays the role of the hitman The Raven so well.  This cast is having a blast for sure…and so can we. 

Is Love Hurts the next great action comedy? It does not quite reach those heights. BUT…this is an incredibly fun and exciting time at the movies. Clocking in at only 83-minutes, this is a quick, fast-paced, and charming time at the movies. This has some impressive action which is important to stand out in a post John Wick and Mission: Impossible world. Quan is a great lead, and it makes you excited to see him in more.