Review of What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) by Jens T — 13 Apr 2013

What's Love Got To Do With It? is as you might have guessed the biopic about Anna Mae Bullock, better known by her stage name Tina Turner (Angela Bassett). This is the story of how a young country girl came to St. Louis and fell in love with the talented and handsome blues artist, Ike Turner (Laurence Fishburne) who launched her music career. It started out great, but as the years went by, Ike became extremely jealous of Tina's popularity which overshadowed his, and this made him extremely violent, something that effected both his wife and children. A loveless relationship where Tina was forced to perform against her will.

This is a well made biopic, with two great performances by both Bassett and Fishburne. This is an honest and shocking film. It is indeed very shocking to see how horrible Tina was treated, and how selfish Ike was. According to Tina Turner herself, it was more violent than seen in the movie. This well crafted biopic doesn't spare our feelings, but is also filled with joy. Not only in sense of music, but also in the scenes where Tina stands up for herself. Thumbs up.