What's Love Got To Do With It?

Ms. Bassett plays Tina with all the earthy charm and sexual magnetism of the real life Tina Turner. Laurence Fishburne gives an amazingly effective performance as Ike, at once both repellent and charismatic. The movie focuses on their relationship, one which sowed the seeds for the Tina Turner we know today.

What started out as a match made in heaven, quickly soured as Tina naturally took the lead musically in their Ike and Tina Turner Revue. When it became clear that Tina was the one for which the fans were clamoring, Ike did not take lightly to being second banana, and their relationship became one of domestic discord and abuse, with Ike easing into the role of abusive husband with relative ease.

When Tina finally had had enough, she divorced Ike, taking nothing from the marriage except her children and her show business name, the name she earned. From there, she went on to rebuild her life and career, becoming the world reknowned rock and roll diva she is today. Ike, a substance abuser, ended up in prison for narcotics possession and fell into relative obscurity, little more than a footnote in rock and roll history.

This is a film well worth watching, with great performances and great music. Look for the live stage performance by the real life Tina Turner at the end of the film. That alone is worth the price of this video.


Tina should be proud.   January 29, 2000
 13 out of 14 found this review helpful

How could anyone not like this movie? Unless they were Ike Turner, that is. When we walked out of seeing the movie during its first run in the theater, my husband commented dryly, "Well, that movie didn't paint a very flattering portrait of Ike." and we both laughed at the understatement. If you've read the Tina's book, though, you'll know that the movie goes VERY easy on him-while merely a typical abusive bully in the film, Ike treated her much, much worse in real life. I think if they put even half the abuse and torture he put her through in real life, though, the movie would have been too much of a downer-you got the idea. Fishburne does a good job of making Ike so charming when Tina first meets him that you can see why she falls in love with him, until he turns into a monster. Angela Bassett is just fantastic, she has Tina down perfect, though her upper body is so pumped up in some scenes she looks almost masculine. Tina Turner was (hell, still is at 60) toned and buff, but not a female bodybuilder. Her performance is dynamic and heartbreaking, and I can't watch the scene where she finally gets sick of his abuse and starts fighting back without getting emotional. When she finally hits him back in the scene in the limo, I heard the loudest cheers and applause in the audience that I've heard since I saw Thelma and Louise. I've seen the movie dozens of times and her passion in that scene still gets me emotional every time.

But the real reason I watch the movie over and over (especially when I'm trying to get motivated to work out) are the musical numbers. They include among others "A Fool in Love", "Rock me Baby" a great montage to "Make me Over", but the centerpiece of the film has got to be the perfect recreation, right down to the choreography, of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue's "Proud Mary". It is full of so much energy and rocks so much that your jaw will just hang open in amazement when Tina and the Ikettes start going into their dance moves. I never get tired of watching that scene (almost as good as the real thing). I'm still trying to figure out how they kept their wigs on when they were whipping their upper bodies back and forth, they danced so hard. Oh, and the costumes (especially on the Ikettes and the "Proud Mary" fringe dress) and period detail are not only accurate but To Die For. I can't recommend this movie enough. She should have got the Academy Award, not just the Golden Globe, and the movie should have got the Oscar for best picture of 1993.


Angela Bassett's Finest Performance   April 23, 2002
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I am thrilled that Halle Berry is the first black woman to win a Best Actress Academy Award. I will forever be disappointed, however, that Angela Bassett, though nominated, was passed over in 1993 for her extraordinary portrayal of Tina Turner.

What is remarkable is that even though she looks nothing like Tina and is not at all like Tina off-screen, on screen she IS Tina Turner. You immediately forget that this is a woman ACTING the role of Tina Turner and is not the legend herself. This film should be required viewing as a textbook example of how to carry off a dramatic interpretation of a well-known individual. All of us know Tina and are accustomed to her distinctive personality. Bassett faced the incredibly difficult task of making us forget the larger-than-life public image of Tina and accept the character as she interpreted her. An exceptionally intelligent and classically trained actress, understood that the key to success was not to mimic Tina but to capture her essence, and she is brilliant in doing so. She never overreaches or milks an easy melodramatic tear. She can communicate a world of emotions and ideas with a smile, a glance, or the slightest body movement.

It really is wonderful to watch her as she sinks her teeth into the role, one of the very finest roles Hollywood has ever offered a black actress. Unfortunately, though she has carved out a fairly successful film career in the years since, Bassett is, I think, the most underrated and underutilized actress of our time.

I hope that she is fortunate enough to land another role of this quality and that next time she receives the acclaim that she so richly deserves.

P.S. Laurence Fishburne was extraordinary, as well. They BOTH deserved Oscars for their performances.


Angela Bassett / Halle Berry   June 22, 2006
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Halle Berry is very attractive and I am sure that the roll she played in "Monster's Ball" was difficult but Angela Bassett deserved the monumental distinction of being the first African American Actress to win a leading role Oscar.

Angela Bassett played her role in this movie and not only did an excellent job but also a very realistic one of just what Tina Turner and countless other women have went through at the hands of an abusive man.

I highly recommend this movie and thank goodness Tina Turner survived and made it. I only wish Ms. Bassett would have been given the credit she was due by awarding her the Oscar.