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What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)

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14 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Memorable Performances For Intense Drama, 1 May 2005

Author: gftbiloxi (gftbiloxi@yahoo.com) from Biloxi, Mississippi

Celebrity bio-pics are very hit or miss, but once in a great while a really good one comes along--and WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT is one of them. Based on the autobiography of Tina Turner, the film offers a glossy but intense portrait of her rapid rise to stardom under the sponsorship of husband-manager Ike Turner--a relationship that quickly turned dark and became increasingly abusive as Tina's fame began to outstrip Ike's own.

Although the film is a bit on the obvious side, it is well-crafted and the two leads offer powerhouse performances. Angela Bassett is simply astonishing as Tina Turner; where most other actresses might have simply imitated, Bassett accomplishes the impossible: she makes you believe that she is Tina Turner, capturing both Tina's famous on-stage performing style (the concert scenes are really exciting) and giving a completely believable interpretation of her off-stage personality as well. The script offers Laurence Fishburne little more than a one-dimensional role, but he plays it brilliantly from start to finish, and both are well supported by the overall cast.

There is certainly a great deal more to the lives of both Ike and Tina Turner than this film conveys--but what it does show it presents with considerable power and conviction, and by the time Tina finally hits back at Ike you'll be roaring for her to hit him again--and again--and again--and eager to see her finally triumph entirely on her own. Recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

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13 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
No resemblance, but it doesn't matter, 21 January 2004
Author: MovingPix from Australia

Despite Angela Bassett bearing little resemblance to Tina Turner (and Fishbourne to Ike Turner for that matter) the movie works because of the outstanding performances of these two actors. So strong is Bassett's performance as Tina that this issue becomes irrelevant. Angela becomes Tina.

Based on the book "I, Tina", the film focusses on Tina's life story up to her amazing comeback in 1984. However, I've always wondered how much of the film is factual considering it was only based on the book.

There are several scenes which are violent and give us some understanding on how horrible life became for Tina while married to Ike. I admire her commitment to stay with the Turner Revue, and being a mother to four children (of which two were not hers). People ask, why didn't she just walk out? Well eventually she did, but her committment was very commendable.

This is a movie that I very much enjoyed seeing in 1993. I viewed it again in 2003 and it still remains as powerful as it was back then. The fine performances from Bassett and Fishbourne, and an engaging storyline, are the reason for this!

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11 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Much better than I expected, 21 February 2003
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

As a young girl, Anna Mae Bullock is left behind when her mother flees an abusive husband. As a young woman she comes to the city to rejoin her mother and sister. Going with her sister to a local club, Anna Mae is drawn onto the stage by band leader Ike Turner and reveals a powerful voice. He takes her into his band and the two go onto success, marriage and children with Anna Mae taking the stage name Tina Turner. However beneath the surface, Ike is a violent man and Tina is forced to either defend him or escape.

I have seen this twice already, although I'm not a Tina Turner fan and don't find her music to be that good (aside from a few of the bigger hits) but I do know a powerful film when I see it. The plot is based on the biography of Tina Turner and, because it is official, the end result is that it lacks an eye that approaches with fair judgement. The film therefore builds up the strength of Ike and the resolve of Tina and is a little too reverent at points like Tina finding strength in Buddhist chanting. However it is difficult to miss the cynical eye when you accept that having a violent husband and being trapped is a difficult situation that anyone does well to come out of.

The film is moving but never lets itself become overly emotional or sentimental. Instead it just soldiers on like Tina herself and the final scenes give you an impression of someone who has overcome to get to where she is. Usually it would be difficult to feel for someone who is as rich and successful as Tina Turner and it is to the film's credit that it has managed it. Part of the reason for this is a sympathetic yet strong performance from Bassett (one of the better black actresses around). She at times seems to be just impersonating Turner (during the music pieces) but she is in her element in the rest with a meaty part not often offered to her. Fishburne is good and bad in different ways. Firstly he is good because he grips the audience and commands attention and is, as always, an excellent actor given the chance. However he is too powerful – the real Ike is less physically dominant and Fishburne doesn't do him justice – appearing to point the blame on drugs and no inner turmoil.

Overall this is a good film that deals with a difficult subject matter. The fact that it is a true story just makes it better. Strong black leads and emotionally involving makes for a good watch even if it's hard to describe the violence at times as `entertainment'.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
St. Tina, 31 January 2005

Author: (style@austinchronicle.com) from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The deification of St. Tina and the deserved crucifixion of Ike, starring the magnificent Angela Bassett, is harrowing and crackling with electricity. Perhaps the only movie with more domestic violence than *Mommie Dearest*, this is the movie bio to end all movie bios. From the earliest scenes of a rambunctious Tina (or Anna Mae, as she was known then) acting up during choir practice, we, the audience, belong to her completely, irrevocably winning us through empathy and admiration for such a feisty, plucky spirit. Showing Ike as a famous R&B star and suave ladykiller at the time he meets the young Tina, Ike wins her through a combination of persistence and flattery, appealing to her vanity and sense of loyalty ("I make them famous and then they run off," Ike tells her). But they team up and, as we know, and make musical history. Their codependency is of the direst sort – he *made* her and feels like he owns her, and she just wants to please him. But pleasing Ike is a tall order, and any success is only temporary. We are taken on a wild ride of spectacular performances in vivid color – both the great achievements of the duo, as well as their darkest hours, but as Ike slides into drugs and domination, the situation is as hopeless as most codependent situations are. We see Tina as she is, once again, beaten to a pulp…but perhaps for the last time. She runs away, and with a wrenching scene in which she appears in the lobby of the neighboring Ramada Inn, begging for shelter, we are begging with her, praying for some nameless act of charity to deliver her from evil. She makes a relatively clean getaway, winding up in the hands of Roger Davies, her manager (and a producer of this film), who engineered one of the greatest comebacks in history. Of course, Ike tries desperately and unsuccessfully to woo her back, telling her how he *made* her, but then becomes ridiculous, uttering to her in 1980, "You ain't no Donna Summers." But we know what the outcome of that is – Tina's personal success and lifetime appointment as posterchild for Survivors Anonymous is legendary. Angela Bassett is one of the finest actresses alive, but has yet to produce anything rivaling this performance. She is backed up by a number of extremely strong performances, especially that of Vanessa Bell, in a stand-up performance as her friend Jackie, who not only proves to Tina that she can escape from Ike, but also shows her a way to inner-peace through Buddhism. During the closing credits, we see the real-life Tina perform the title song, but it is a gratuitous, and even negligent performance, that undermines the audience's belief in Basset as Tina. The crime is that this film did not receive Academy attention – for art direction and costuming alone, it is the exquisite evocation of an extremely lively era and lifestyle – as an almost perfect production, it meshes together the cinematography, script, acting and music into a dazzling and sometimes horrifying, but always riveting tour de force.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A Richly Entertaining Biopic about a Musical Legend featuring two electrifying star performances..., 28 June 2007

Author: Isaac5855 from United States

WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT is the dazzling 1993 musical biopic that chronicles the legendary Tina Turner, from her humble beginnings as a show off in her church choir when she was a kid named Anna Mae Bullock to her now legendary success as one of the top rock and roll performers of our generation. As expected, the majority of the film focuses on Anna Mae's relationship with Ike Turner, a musician who works steadily but stays on the cusp of stardom until meeting Anna Mae, changing her name to Tina and making her the lead singer of the group. The film shines a not-too-flattering light on Ike's abusive treatment of Tina, which ranges from severe beatings to marital rape. The screenplay, clearly based on Tina's autobiography I, TINA, is kind of one-sided...in the film, Tina is presented as just this side of Mother Theresa and that Ike single-handedly destroyed their marriage, but in later years, Turner has admitted that the movie does paint Ike in an unflattering light and that she had as much to do with the destruction of their marriage as he did. On the other hand, it is the single-sided view of the screenplay that helps to make this movie so entertaining...we have a crystal clear heroine and an equally clear villain here that arouse the expected reactions from the filmgoers. Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishbourne deliver electrifying performances as the Turners, performances that earned them both Oscar nominations and are the anchor of this film. Bassett does a more than credible job of lip-syncing to original Tina recordings. Yes, it may gloss over the facts and the actors may not look like the people they are portraying, but this film is powerhouse entertainment from start to finish.

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6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
abuse is wrong......in any shape or form, 20 November 2006
Author: (tarnzz) from New Zealand

Abuse is wrong no matter who you are rock-star or just everyday Joe....unless you have been a victim of abuse in the same sense you have no idea how it is.

He beat Tina and that is wrong forcing yourself on a woman whether she is your wife or not is wrong. This man was an abusive Pr..k and he deserves everything that comes his way. He only used Tina for the money he could make from her...i think she is a strong strong woman for leaving him and becoming what she is today.

I have watched this movie over and over it helps me to see how far i have come after leaving an abusive husband, so unless you have been treated this way you would have no idea what Tina went through.

Unfortunately no one including myself can say whether any of the movie is correct, unless you were a part of Ike and Tina's lives you have no idea what happened. The truth only Ike Tina and close friends would know.

I personally (even though i was not there) believe her and i think he is nothing but a woman bashing p.g! Good on you Tina for leaving and making you life better....you go girl and keep being strong.....

I believe you.

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13 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Performer, Good PC Heroine, 12 September 2006

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

Wow, what a great story to promote Liberal and political correctness! Here were can make a hero out of a woman - even better a black woman - and make a man look terrible and promote Buddism at the same time while taking shots at Christianity. This has every filmmaker's leftist agenda, all rolled into one movie. Great!

Rock superstar Tina Turner (played well by Angela Bassett) is the subject in the biography, which is still interesting despite the obvious agenda in certain areas. It's nicely photographed and has wonderful music. The story is interesting and tolerable except when Tina's husband "Ike" (Laurence Fishburne) gets abusive. Wife-beating is too ugly to enjoy watching.

On a personal note: Tina Turner will go down in history as one of the all-time greatest live rock performers ever. Her shows were fantastic and for her to be out there dancing at 60 years of age was remarkable.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Two Red-Hot Blazing Performances Bring Fire, Glory and Nuance to Tina Turner's Story, 8 February 2006

Author: Ed Uyeshima from San Francisco, CA, USA

It was gratifying to see rock legend Tina Turner earn the coveted Kennedy Center honor last month, certainly reason enough to revisit this wonderful biopic based on her 1987 self-affirming autobiography, "I, Tina" co-written with Rolling Stone editor Kurt Loder. Directed by the late Brian Gibson in an appropriately feverish manner, the 1993 movie still burns brightly thanks to the electrifying performances of Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne. There have been several fine performances in biopics of late - Jamie Foxx in "Ray", Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line" - but I still feel Bassett and Fishburne maintain the high watermark as they seem to inhabit the roles of Ike and Tina completely in this film.

Adapting probably the most melodramatic parts of Tina's book, Gibson and screenwriter Kate Lanier built a dramatic framework about the former Anna Mae Bullock that is somewhat standard-issue and probably biased, but it works on a visceral level as a story of personal triumph punctuated by some of the most gut-wrenching scenes of domestic violence captured on film. Playing one of the most recognizable and enduring celebrities in the rock world, Bassett manages to capture the physical mannerisms, vocal patterns, and onstage energy of the real Tina, even though her voice obviously had to be dubbed. With her almost distracting musculature, she convincingly rips into all her musical performances with unabated fire, but it's really in her dramatic scenes, especially when she becomes an increasingly degraded victim of her husband's demons, that she soars. Fishburne has an extremely tough role, as he has to transcend the inherent villainy of Ike by displaying the bravado and talent that brought the pair the spotlight in the early years. He brilliantly manages to imbue a spirit that is at once frightening and pitiable.

With a relatively sparse filmography, Gibson provides surprisingly sturdy direction here, often using an effective faux-combination of grainy home movies and TV programs to make the movie feel like a "Behind the Scenes" rock documentary. I particularly liked how he edited the inevitable "Proud Mary" - complete with gyrating Ikettes and Tina in her classic cave woman mini - to show the passage of time between the late sixties to the mid-seventies. Unsurprisingly, no one else makes nearly the impression of the two stars, though Jenifer Lewis has a few funny moments as Tina's mother Zelma, and Vanessa Bell Calloway does what she can in her switch from hard-bitten back-up singer to becalming Buddhist. Regardless, see it for two actors - sadly underutilized since this movie was released, the wondrous Bassett in particular - giving all they have into this memorable movie. The DVD has no significant extras other than the original trailer.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Angela Bassett should be proud, 16 October 2005

Author: Jenna Altringham (hayden-panettiere-ukfan) from Essex

I watched the film recently, and was amazed by how brilliant it was. Not knowing about Tina Turner's life, I was shocked. The movie was pretty hard hitting.

Laurence Fishburne was amazing in his role, he was very scary, and it just made you hate Ike for being so evil. Angela Bassett's performance was outstandingly amazing though - I've never seen so much good acting out of someone in a movie.

All in all, I loved the movie, and any awards for it were well rewarded.

10/10

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Even if things were exaggerated, this was truly an amazing movie and inspirational, 1 January 2007

Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois

I just happened to walk by What's Love Got To Do With It in the video store and remembered how much I wanted to see the movie, I am a fan of Tina's, have been since I could crawl. When I was 4 years old I would walk around with a walk man and sing out loud "What's Love Got To Do With It?", and my mom would laugh and she eventually told me when I got a little older what the song was about. I still blast and sing the song every time I hear it and understand it's power, afterwards, I wanted to read the book I, Tina and my heart was shattered for Tina and I just wanted to be like her and have her strength. Finally, I saw this film last night and I was blown away by such a terrific performance by Angela and Lawerence! They were truly amazing and made this film an incredibly biography.

This is based on Tina Turner's life, mainly what happened between her and Ike, the utter and horrific abuse that ensued by Ike by his jealous rage of Tina's spotlight. Tina has only one friend by her side that truly defends her against Ike and Tina tries so hard to get away, but Ike won't let her. Finally, Tina has just had enough in an extremely emotional scene, they have a fight in the limo and Tina swings back at Ike finally! You just cheer and scream for her to leave and she finally gets what she truly deserved, the solo career and utter fame for being a truly gifted star.

I have a feeling things were a bit exaggerated in the film, you know, the fights? But I think almost 25 years of an abusive marriage is hard to get into a 2 hour film, so they had to make you understand the pain Tina went through. Angela did a terrific job, one of the best performances I have ever seen in fact, I was just cheering for her in that limo! I cried and cheered for Tina, she is truly a remarkable woman and to understand that, please read the book and watch What's Love Got To Do With It.

10/10

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