What's Love Got to Do with It
(B or 3/4 stars)
Angela Bassett & Laurence Fishburne star in 'What's Love Got to Do with It', a musical biodrama directed by Brian Gibson. It is based on the life of legendary soul/blues rock singer, Tina Turner (Bassett) - born Anna Mae Bullock - who, after being emotionally damaged by her mother's abandonment as a teen, discovers her love of singing in her rural Tennessee church choir. She moves to St. Louis, Missouri, to pursue a singing career, and there is where she meets the slick, charismatic, but manipulative & volcanic Ike Turner (Fishburne), a local pop group leader who re-names her Tina.
He offers to help her talent flourish into success by highlighting her unusual voice, spirited style & kinetic dancing energy. As a music team, Ike & Tina take American & the charts by storm. They marry, have children, and she loves him. But as his visceral, physical abuse & increasing drug use worsens over time {due partly to jealousy of his wife's rising world stardom by the 1980s}, Tina's sanity & safety is at stake and, she must make the extremely brave decision to leave Ike to set-out on her own.
This very entertaining - if somewhat difficult to watch - film is fueled by some absolutely dazzling performances by both Angela Bassett & Laurence Fishburne. And director Brian Gibson delivers some amazing faithfulness to the style & substance of Tina Turner's iconic stage moments; both with Ike & on her own. 'WLGTDWI' is a 2 hour odyssey from the lowest of the lows - mannny graphically brutal scenes with the unrepentant Ike - to the highest of the highs -- Angela Bassett's exacting recreation of Tina's quintessential performances with her own incredible versatility. Bassett expertly lip-synchs to Tina, while Fishburne uses his own voice for portions of Ike's singing; both offerings aid the verve & authenticity of the moment.
Angela Bassett's bravura acting & dancing garnered her an Academy Award nomination as the dynamic superstar and submissive, abused wife who finally found the guts to say "no more". Many people felt she should have won the Oscar against The Piano's Holly Hunter. But those performances: apples & oranges; couldn't be more different. I slightly prefer Hunter's utterly haunting portrayal, but either actress would be worthy of the win. And Laurence Fishburne is charismatically terrifying in his a portrait of a mad-man control freak who simply cannot control his volatile emotions.
Now, I wouldn't say this film is perfect; no film is. There is redundancy to some of the scenes & of the themes. But on the whole, this movie is exactly what a good biopic should be: a crowd-pleasing chronicle of one subject's highs & lows that contains great acting, a capable script {that doesn't stray too far from the truth}, splashy production values, & packs an emotional wallop. This movie shows how easily a soaring talent, and seemingly strong woman like Tina Turner, can almost be destroyed by adversity, victimhood & relationship toxicity. But Tina's emotional endurance wins the day.
He offers to help her talent flourish into success by highlighting her unusual voice, spirited style & kinetic dancing energy. As a music team, Ike & Tina take American & the charts by storm. They marry, have children, and she loves him. But as his visceral, physical abuse & increasing drug use worsens over time {due partly to jealousy of his wife's rising world stardom by the 1980s}, Tina's sanity & safety is at stake and, she must make the extremely brave decision to leave Ike to set-out on her own.
This very entertaining - if somewhat difficult to watch - film is fueled by some absolutely dazzling performances by both Angela Bassett & Laurence Fishburne. And director Brian Gibson delivers some amazing faithfulness to the style & substance of Tina Turner's iconic stage moments; both with Ike & on her own. 'WLGTDWI' is a 2 hour odyssey from the lowest of the lows - mannny graphically brutal scenes with the unrepentant Ike - to the highest of the highs -- Angela Bassett's exacting recreation of Tina's quintessential performances with her own incredible versatility. Bassett expertly lip-synchs to Tina, while Fishburne uses his own voice for portions of Ike's singing; both offerings aid the verve & authenticity of the moment.
Angela Bassett's bravura acting & dancing garnered her an Academy Award nomination as the dynamic superstar and submissive, abused wife who finally found the guts to say "no more". Many people felt she should have won the Oscar against The Piano's Holly Hunter. But those performances: apples & oranges; couldn't be more different. I slightly prefer Hunter's utterly haunting portrayal, but either actress would be worthy of the win. And Laurence Fishburne is charismatically terrifying in his a portrait of a mad-man control freak who simply cannot control his volatile emotions.
Now, I wouldn't say this film is perfect; no film is. There is redundancy to some of the scenes & of the themes. But on the whole, this movie is exactly what a good biopic should be: a crowd-pleasing chronicle of one subject's highs & lows that contains great acting, a capable script {that doesn't stray too far from the truth}, splashy production values, & packs an emotional wallop. This movie shows how easily a soaring talent, and seemingly strong woman like Tina Turner, can almost be destroyed by adversity, victimhood & relationship toxicity. But Tina's emotional endurance wins the day.