What's Love Got to Do with It

A discreet biographical film, that seems to me to fulfill its role.

Even those who don't like her, I think, have the honesty to recognize the impact and relevance of Tina Turner's music. She doesn't please everyone (nobody pleases everyone) but it is still a reference in 20th century music. Owner of a record that is hard to match, she has several awards, several Grammys and two stars on the Walk of Fame, among other honors. The film we have here, heavily based on the singer's autobiography, shows us a little of her personal life, how she became famous and her difficult marriage to Ike Turner.

I never read the original book, but I believe the movie omits a lot of information and data to try to focus on the main thing. Brian Gibson ensures an efficient direction and the script is quite good, mainly because of the way it sticks to the story and facts, avoiding melodramas and cloying sentimentality. Of course, not everything goes smoothly: the film is quite predictable, and its pace, although pleasant, goes through several bumps that are basically musical pauses.

The most relevant point in favor of this film is the excellent choice of the cast and the impeccable way in which it acts. Lawrence Fishburne has the difficult task of bringing the truculent Ike to life (and there aren't many characters more disgusting than an abusive husband), but he put in such effort that he manages to capture our attention with magnificent charisma. Beside her, the great Angela Bassett never seemed so powerful and electrifying. Incidentally, the resemblance of the two actors to the real figures they embody is truly remarkable.

The film has excellent cinematography and good scenery. The costumes, props and even automobiles play an important role in building the atmosphere of the time in which things are happening (between the 50s and the beginning of the 80s). The soundtrack is also good and, predictably, it's basically based on songs by Tina Turner and Ike Turner.

Andrea Bassett provides quite a compelling interpretation of the early life of Tina Turner here and Laurence Fishburne is also on good form as the brutish Ike. Born Annie Mae Bullock, she grows up in a community where singing is important and where her voice helps her to stand out. Pretty swiftly she attracts the notice of local band leader Ike Turner who gives her a start fronting his music before she becomes his wife and a mother. Success begins to follow but as that happens he turns into a monster. She is beaten regularly and feels more and more intimidated and fearful within her own marriage. Her society just wasn't geared up for a woman to leave her husband, however violent, and so with their business and family lives so completely intertwined any chance to break free was always going to be dangerous for this woman. Peppered with some well staged performances of their songs, and concluding with the birth of a legend, this is one of the more honest biopics that spares us little of the detail of a relationship riddled with turmoil and little respect. Fishburne presents us with a man who is odious in the extreme, but also one who exudes a degree of vulnerability as he clearly takes to drink and drugs to compensate for her success and his perception on how that impacted on his manhood to some extent. Not to excuse the behaviour - it seems commonplace for many African American women to have been the victims of domestic violence, but it does humanise the man a little and that does help to illustrate both the boldness and determination of an hugely talented and strong woman to do what she had to to break free of his magnetically toxic influence. It's based on her own book, and that adds a considerable degree of authenticity and richness to a depiction that's tough to watch at times, but well worth it.