nm2886780 Very inspiring through and through. Captivating from beginning till end. Angela was so good with her dancing, the way she walks, the way she talks was very believable that she was Tina Turner. THere was one scene in the studio when they were recording 'Nutbush City Limit' and she shout out 'I wrote it Ike' for a moment there I thought it was Tina saying that! So 2 thumbs up for Angela Bassette for attack this role right on. But she went too far with the working out, because I thought her muscles are way too big. Tina was never that big, she was tone but never that big. And the wig, I mean whoever is the hairstylist definitely didn't do their homework, because Tina TUrner does not have a stiff hear that sets straight up like the one in the scene at the Ritz. That was bad !

capone666 What's Love Got to Do With ItIf it weren't for females, record labels would have to rely solely on money and cocaine to entice potential male acts.However, the male singer in this biography needs a woman to complete his act.Abandoned by her family, Anna Mae (Angela Bassett) grows up with nothing but her unorthodox singing voice to keep her company.In her teens, she auditions for local bandleader/lothario Ike (Laurence Fishburne), who is impressed by her pipes.Joining him and his band under the moniker Tina, Anna Mae begins banging out the hits, while her new husband begins banging on her.Under Ike's thumb, Tina is unable to branch out and become the star she's destined to be.Based on Tina Turner's biography, WLGTDWI is a superbly acted, heartbreaking tale of overcoming domestic abuse in an era of blind eyes.Fortunately, domestic violence in today's music has been restricted to the Top 40 list. (Green Light)

James Hitchcock Recent years have seen a number of pop star biopics, such as "Ray", "Walk the Line" and "Dreamgirls", a fictionalised version of the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes. (I understand that a life of Marvin Gaye is to come in the near future). "What's Love Got to Do with It", based on Tina Turner's autobiography, was one of the earliest in this genre."Ray" and "Walk the Line" both laid considerable emphasis on their subjects' early years. Like Ray Charles and Johnny Cash, Anna Mae Bullock (Tina's real name) was born in America's Deep South in the 1930s and grew up in poverty. Her birthplace, Nutbush, Tennessee, was later immortalised in her song "Nutbush City Limits". (Her promotion of this small village to city status was presumably a piece of sardonic humour). The film does not, however, dwell on her childhood at any length, although there is one scene in which the young Anna Mae is thrown out of her local church choir for singing with too much fervour. (Ironically, she was later to renounce Christianity in favour of Buddhism, and this is dealt with in the film, although we are left with the misleading impression that the Buddhist religion consists of little more than the attainment of inner peace through the repeated chanting of a phrase in a foreign language).There is a convention, observed by most showbiz biographies, that success doesn't come easily. The star must be shown battling against internal demons or external forces which hinder his or her rise to the top and then threaten to destroy his or her career. This convention may be something of a cliché, yet it is often a necessary one, needed to give dramatic force to narratives that might otherwise be bland and uninteresting. It is for this reason that I found the Jennifer Lopez film "Selena" vaguely unsatisfactory. Selena Quintanilla-Perez seemed to achieve success as easily as breathing and, as portrayed by Lopez, was so innocent and wholesome that the concept of internal demons was entirely foreign to her. Her murder in the final scenes- even though this is what happened to the real Selena- seemed like an ending tacked on from some entirely different movie.In this film the threat to Tina is not an internal demon but an external one, in the shape of her husband, mentor, and performing partner, Ike, The film concentrates largely on the first two decades of Tina's career, and especially on her marriage. Yet, in the early part of the film, Ike is not the villain of the piece. In the 1950s he was an established star in his own right, and the film describes how he met Anna Mae while she was living in St Louis in the late fifties, how he became first her lover, then her husband and how created her career as a performer. They were to win fame in the sixties as a husband-and-wife double-act, "Ike and Tina Turner". (Ike suggested that she take Tina as her stage name).As the film progresses, however, it becomes clear that Ike is an unstable personality with an uncontrollable temper, subject to fits of rage in which he abuses Tina both verbally and physically. Although he created her as a performer, he comes close to destroying her as a person. Eventually, after fifteen years Tina has had enough, and the marriage ends in divorce. The title is taken from another of her well-known songs, although it might also be taken as her comment on her marriage. What had love got to do with the way Ike treated her? The last part of the film deals with Tina's attempts to make a new career as a solo performer, but overlooks her long-standing relationship with her German partner Erwin Bach. Hollywood is often uncomfortable with the idea of mixed-race relationships, even real-life ones.Angela Bassett was very good at conveying the raw energy and sexual power of Tina's stage performances, although it is Tina's voice that we actually hear. I was, however, less impressed by her interpretation of the role in the rest of the film and was surprised that she was nominated for an Oscar, especially as there were some deserving performances that were overlooked (notably Michelle Pfeiffer in "The Age of Innocence"). Bassett's Tina, away from the stage or the recording studio, came across as too passive and willing to submit to Ike's demands, as well as a bit too saintly.Laurence Fishburne was better, bringing out both the Jekyll and the Hyde in Ike's character, both his charisma and his violent fury, although the film perhaps does not explain why their marriage should have lasted for so long. The film may have been based upon Tina's autobiography, but autobiographies are not always the most reliable sources of information, and this reliance on a single, partial, source means that "What's Love Got to Do with It", although a very watchable and at times powerful drama, ends up rather unbalanced, with too many black and white distinctions and too few shades of grey. 6/10

waiching liu Sometimes biopics tend to be instantly forgettable made-for-TV franchises, with very little to offer in terms of character development and exploration which attempts to dig deeper into their personal lives, and their eventual triumphs over adversity. There are also biopics that seem to be memorable and popular with mainstream Hollywood, such as the Rocky series, Ali, Ray, Walk The Line to name but many. But 'What's Love Got to Do With It?' is neither a made-for-TV type of film, nor did it reclaim instant recognition and appraisal from the Academy Awards folk, seeing as it was harshly and virtually ignored. Bassett was nominated for a best actress gong, only for that to go to Holly Hunter in the rather dull drama,'The Piano' whilst Fishburne lost out to Tom Hanks, who starred in the overrated 'Philiadelphia' for best actor. It is indeed one of the very few (music-based) biopic films where in which it delivers strong but impressive performances from the main leads without all the necessary commercialised bravado and hype. 'What's Love Got to Do With It?' chronicles the imminent and illustrious life and times of Anna Mae Bullock aka Tina Turner- one of the most prominent and successful female solo recording artists in (pop)music, ever.The narrative of the film attempts to present to the audience a glimpse into the difficult hardships that Tina had to endure both as a child and as an adult, as well as her troublesome and at times violent marital relationship with her husband, Ike. Laurence Fishbourne excels in this role, even though some would argue that he bears little resemblance to Ike Turner, in physical terms. He is so convincing and yet so menacing and vile as Ike, you just feel nothing but total repulsion towards him for the way he has treated his wife. Beating and hitting her so hard, i'm sure it wasn't easy for Fishburne and Bassett to film such difficult scenes because on screen for us viewers, the violence, which was being inflicted on Tina by her lover, was so brutal to watch. As for Bassett, she may not be an accomplished vocalist in her own right, but her lip-synching of the tracks during the music performances of the film was impressive and she succeeded in capturing and projectifying Tina's mannerisms and presence on stage.What I like in particular about this movie also, is that as it is based on a true life account of Tina Turner's ups and downs, in contrast to other similar themed auto-biographical films, the events that unfold throughout the duration of this production are presented to us, not in an idealised way but as and when it happened, no matter how bleak and unsettling it is and was. Ali, Ray and even Malcolm X all celebrated the achievements of Black African American heroism but that they also celebrate the acceptance and importance of Black masculinity within what was then a predominantly white society and what it is to be male, Black and American. In Tina Turner,and this film, it in a way celebrates and acknowledges the contribution of Black femininity through her struggles and in overcoming such struggles and through her music, in addition for others to make sense of what it is to be female, Black and American.Although the abuse scenes are often difficult to stomach, particularly the rape scene where Tina is attacked by Ike, which I found incredibly disheartening and painful to sit through, 'What's Love Got to Do With It?' is an unmistakable- yet intense journey of emotions, sheer brutality and pure heartache on the part of the so- called main protagonist. But of course, Tina does indeed triumph in the end, which is a wonderful thing. And although it feels like it is like any other film with a predominantly Black cast, the fact that Tina Turner's music caters for all audiences and not just the Black community at large, means that regardless of your social, ethnic background, gender or sexuality,'What's Love Got to Do With It?' is an extremely accessible and engaging film that is as hard-hitting and powerful as it is moving. And in Angela Bassett, she should be a much, much bigger movie star than she is right now. It is unbelievable that this underrated actress doesn't receive as many film roles that she rightly deserves.Nevertheless, this film has to be one of the cult classics of all- time and the brilliance of the performances have to be seen to be believed. If you're a massive Tina Turner fan, you'll love this, but if you love to watch great acting and expect a good story, then this is definitely worth seeing as well.