What's Love Got To Do With It? (1993)
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Reviews Counted: 49
Fresh: 47 | Rotten: 2
With a fascinating real-life story and powerhouse performances from Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne, What's Love Got to Do With It? is a can't miss biopic.
Average Rating: 7.9/10
Critic Reviews: 16
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 1
With a fascinating real-life story and powerhouse performances from Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne, What's Love Got to Do With It? is a can't miss biopic.
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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 51,395
Movie Info
What's Love Got to Do With It? is the filmed biography of R&B/pop singer Tina Turner (Angela Bassett), documenting her efforts to break away from her abusive husband Ike (Laurence Fishburne). After a few scenes detailing Tina's life as a young singer in Nutbush, TN, she's discovered by Ike Turner, an already established songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Ike takes Tina under his wing and makes her a star, but her fame makes him jealous and abusive, and she has to struggle to break free
Jun 9, 1993 Wide
Jun 4, 2002
Touchstone Pictures
Cast
-
Angela Bassett
Tina Turner -
Laurence Fishburne
Ike Turner -
Vanessa Bell Callowa...
Jackie -
Jenifer Lewis
Zelma Bullock -
Phyllis Yvonne Stick...
Alline Bullock -
Khandi Alexander
Darlene -
Pamela Tyson
Leanne -
Penny Johnson
Lorraine -
Rae'Ven Larrymore Ke...
Young Anna Mae -
Chi
Fross -
Helen Brown
Old Woman #2 -
Owen Bush
Old Man -
Virginia Capers
Choir Mistress -
Michael Colyar
Apollo Announcer -
Gregory Russell Cook
The Revue -
Cora Lee Day
Grandma Georgiana -
John Fink
Anna's Lawyer -
David Fresco
Old Man #3 -
Sonia Hensley
Audience Female #2 -
Damon Hines
Ronnie Turner -
-
Rosemary Jackson
5th Ikette -
Rob La Belle
Phil Spector -
Robert Lesser
Fairmount MC -
-
Daniel McDonald
London Announcer -
-
Michael Monks
Hotel Porter -
Kenny Moore
Piano Player -
Page Moseley
Ritz Announcer -
Herb Muller
Old Man #2 -
-
James Ralston
Guitarist -
James Reyne
Roger Davies -
-
Shavar Ross
Michael Turner -
Wynonna Smith
4th Ikette -
Sparkle
Old Woman #1 -
-
Oren Waters
Choir Member -
Rudolph Willrich
Judge -
Jacqueline Woolsey
Boutique Clerk -
Daniel Allan Carlin
Conductor -
-
Morris O'Connor
Kings of Rhythm -
Sherman Augustus
Reggie -
Mayah McCoy
Young Hairdresser -
Eartha Robinson
Woman in Audience -
Jennifer Leigh Warre...
Woman in Audience -
-
Patricia Sill
Spector's Assistant -
Natalie Wilson
Choir Member -
O'Neal Compton
Ramada Inn Manager -
Richard T. Jones
Ike Turner Jr. -
Suli McCullough
Craig Turner -
Lorna Scott
Nurse -
Barry Shabaka Henley
El Paso Doctor -
Gene "Groove" Allen
Club Announcer -
Terrence Riggins
Spider -
Kate Lanier
Stripper on Balcony -
Terrence Evans
Bus Driver -
Richard B. Livingsto...
Manager #3 -
Richard Stay
Party Goer #1 -
Walter Davis
The Revue -
Michael Smith
The Revue -
Michael Butler
The Revue -
-
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All Critics (49) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (2) | DVD (1)
A powerful portrait of emotional endurance, propelled by the outstanding performances of Bassett and Fishburne, both of whom lend a crucial dimension to the gradual redundancies of Kate Lanier's otherwise insightful screenplay.
Top CriticTheir nuanced performances give a spectrum of emotional shadings to a black-and-white script that casts Tina as the Beauty to Ike's unreconstructed Beast.
Angela Bassett is a wonderfully sympathetic screen presence who may have a big career ahead of her.
Fishburne's astonishing portrayal of Ike is what holds the movie together. The actor builds, in precise increments, a devastating portrait of a macho control freak; he even finds a kind of ghastly humor in the character's madness.
Though the picture rightfully belongs to Bassett, a final word must be said about Fishburne, who never fails to make Ike seem human if not defensible. Even in defeat, he is remarkably compelling.
Brian Gibson, who directed the script by Kate Lanier, seems to have trouble taking charge of his material as he skips through the years.
What`s Love Got to Do With It is sizzling film fare.
[Fishburne's] performance is the one X factor in What's Love Got To Do With It, which in most respects is an entertaining if conventional pop star biography.
Agreeably camped-up biopic, ringing with righteous sentimentality and brassy defiance, with a furiously good central performance from Bassett.
Basset genuinely holds your sympathy as the little country girl Anna Mae Bullock, singing and suffering her way to superstardom and personal liberation, [and] Fishburne is sensational.
Angela Bassett gives a superbly versatile performance as the heroine, and Laurence Fishburne's portrayal of Ike Turner consolidates his status as one of the most expressive and intelligent actors in movies today.
It's an astonishing movie, first because despite the pathology of the relationship, it's not only about victimization; it's a celebration of spirit, both religious and human, about a woman who finally found the guts (and the faith) to say "No more."
Fishburne and Bassett are both extraordinary, and though the story is inevitably slanted to Tina's perspective, Fishburne makes Ike a complex and compelling presence.
Powerful bio of Tina Turner with domestic violence, drugs.
As Tina Turner, Angela Bassett gives a powerhouse well-deserved Oscar-nominated performance, but the biopic has more than its fair share of showbiz cliches.
Audience Reviews for What's Love Got To Do With It?
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Foreign Titles
- What's Love Got To Do With It (DE)
- What's Love Got To Do With It (UK)
