Ariana DeBose doesn't believe in coincidence. She does, however, "believe in divine timing," she told Yahoo Entertainment. So when she handed the Oscar statuette to Ke Huy Quan when he won Best Supporting Actor at the 2023 Academy Awards,

After the old partner that he had left for dead (played by Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, who presented Quan with his own Oscar) re-enters his life, Marvin is thrust back into a world of ruthless hitmen and must reckon with the pervasive influence of his volatile crime lord brother, Knuckles (Daniel Wu).

Ke Huy Quan has said Steven Spielberg influenced his decision to accept this role, and David Fear of Rolling Stone agrees Quan deserves a chance to showcase his skills in a leading role, but this “lazy action flick” isn’t it. Love may hurt, Fear says, but not as much as watching a great actor stuck in a bad movie. The critic continues:

The Oscar winning actor's first lead role is a major misfire that has plenty of violence but little else to recommend it

In 'Love Hurts,' the likable actor is stuck juggling a nonsensical Valentine’s Day plot, Jackie Chan-style stunts and various other half-baked ideas.

While a lot of modern action movies highlight brutality, Jonathan Eusebio’s Love Hurts is a surprise in that it contains a particular level of charm and sweetness. Leaning heavily into its title and Valentine’s Day setting,

A review of 'Love Hurts' with Ke Huy Quan as a hitman turned real estate agent whose violent past comes back to haunt him with ex-partner Ariana DeBose

Ke Huy Quan plays a happy-go-lucky real estate agent named Marvin Gable whose past life as a hitman comes back to haunt him in “Love Hurts.” The action-comedy goes hard on elaborately choreographed fight sequences and violent,

Oscar winner Ariana DeBose stars as Rose, a lawyer who starts a game of revenge with her old partner in crime, Marvin Gable (Ke Huy Quan). “Love Hurts” opens this weekend and is veteran stunt coordinator JoJo Eusebio’s feature film directing debut.