Whats Love Got To Do With It (1993)

"Terrific!  ABC-TV
"Two thumbs up, way up!  Siskel & Ebert

Editor's Note The true story of Tina Turner's rocky road to stardom and her abusive relationship with domineering husband Ike. Outstanding, gutsy performances by the leads. Academy Award Nominations: Best Actress--Angela Bassett, Best Actor--Laurence Fishburne.

	Angela Bassett
	Jenifer Lewis
	Larry Fishburne
	Vanessa Bell Calloway
	Tina Turner - Based on "I, Tina" By
	Kurt Loder - Based on "I, Tina" By
	Brian Gibson - Director
	Jamie Anderson - Director of Photography
	Stuart Pappe - Editor
	Stanley Clarke - Musical Score
	Pat Kohoe - Producer
	Doug Chapin - Producer
	Stephen Altman - Production Designer
	Kate Lanier - Screenplay

17-year old Anna Mae leaves the backwoods of Tennessee for St. Louis to be reunited with her stern mother and elder sister, Alline. One evening, Alline brings Anna Mae to the night club where a group led by singer-hearthrob Ike Turner plays. Ike makes a nightly ritual of passing the microphone around the dance hall and on one visit to the club Anna Mae grabs it and belts out a song. Soon Anna's whole life is in Ike's hands: he's changed her name to Tina and taken total control of her singing career. Though he's paternalistic and artistically demanding, she's fascinated by his forceful masculinity, stylistic charisma and creative vision. But not long after their quickie Mexican marriage, things turn sour. Ike viciously abuses Tina, who, eventually struggles to free herself of his psychotic reign of terror. New York Times
"...Broad, savvy, entertaining....[Bassett] transforms herself memorably..." 06/09/1993 p.C15

Premiere
"...Angela Bassett's Tina is one helluva Proud Mary..." - Recommended| 04/01/1994 p.142

USA Today
"...[Basset delivers] a great performance..." -- 3 out of 4 stars 06/09/1993 p.1D

Variety
"...A passionate and professional drama that hits both the high and low notes of an extraordinary life and career. An immensely enjoyable saga..." 06/14/1993

Chicago Sun-Times
"...WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT has a lot of terrific music in it....It's a story of pain and courage, uncommonly honest and unflinching..." 06/11/1993 p.42

Washington Post 0 of 10
What's Love Got to Do With It? Not much, I'm afraid. An exploration of Tina Turner's life with the abusive Ike, it's a sketchy but brutal bio-pic with a weft of beatings and a warp of rhythm and blues. One minute she's belting out "Proud Mary," the next Ike's belting her. The film, like the the couple's co-dependent relationship, is fiercely acted out and ablaze with flashy production numbers. Lip-syncing to Turner's vocals but strutting her own freshly pumped stuff, Angela Bassett as Tina sings the lyrics of her life... Bassett, who played opposite Fishburne in Boyz N the Hood, most recently was the devout Muslim Betty Shabazz in Malcolm X, a character of considerable restraint. This role, which shows off Bassett's ferocity and range, promises to win her an Oscar nomination. A handsome woman with the lanky appeal of Katharine Hepburn, Bassett brays and bruises with equal effectiveness. A star is born... Fishburne's performance is astounding for the humanity he brings to the thinly drawn Ike, who turns inexplicably from a charming womanizer to a coke-snorting wife-beater. Fishburne, who played an exemplary father figure in Boyz N the Hood, is anything but that here. He is a Svengali who is able to draw his family back again and again despite his frequent rampages... The mitigating factor is that Bassett overcomes the limitations of the role to become more than a punching bag. - Rita Kempley

Chicago Sun-Times 0 of 10
What's Love Got To Do With It ranks as one of the most harrowing, uncompromising showbiz biographies I've ever seen. It is a tradition in the genre that performers must go through hard times in order to eventually arrive at fame, but few went through harder times than Tina Turner. The movie shows Ike, jealous of her talent and popularity, turning into a violent wife-beater, and it shows her putting up with a lot more than she should have, for a lot longer... The movie stars Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne as Tina and Ike. They played the parents of the hero in Boyz N the Hood, but here they are in another universe - Bassett fiery and convincing as Tina; Fishburne, in a powerful performance, able to show us both Ike's charm and his violent side. The singing on the movie's sound track is by Tina Turner, but Bassett's performances of the songs are so much in synch - not just lip-synch, but physically, and with personality and soul - that it always seems as if we're watching Tina at work... What's Love Got To Do With It has a lot of terrific music in it (including a closing glimpse of the real Tina Turner), but this is not the typical showbiz musical. It's a story of pain and courage, uncommonly honest and unflinching, and the next time I hear Tina Turner singing I will listen to the song in a whole new way. - Roger Ebert