What's Love Got to Do with It (1993 film) explained

What's Love Got to Do with It
Director:Brian Gibson
Screenplay:Kate Lanier
Story:Howard Ashman (uncredited)[1]
Producer:
  • Doug Chapin
  • Barry Krost
Music:Stanley Clarke
Cinematography:Jamie Anderson
Editing:Stuart Pappé
Studio:Touchstone Pictures
Distributor:Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Runtime:118 minutes
Country:United States
Language:English
Budget:$15 million[2]
Gross:$61 million[3]

What's Love Got to Do with It is a 1993 American biographical film based on the life of American singer-songwriter Tina Turner. Directed by Brian Gibson and written by Kate Lanier from a uncredited story draft by the late Howard Ashman, based on Tina's 1986 autobiography I, Tina, it stars Angela Bassett as Tina and Laurence Fishburne as her abusive husband Ike Turner.

What's Love Got to Do with It premiered in Los Angeles on June 6, 1993, and was theatrically released by Touchstone Pictures on June 25, 1993. Although the Turners disapproved of its inaccuracies, the film was critically and commercially successful, grossing $61 million on a $15 million budget. For their performances, Bassett and Fishburne received nominations at the 66th Academy Awards for Best Actress and Best Actor. Bassett also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.

Plot

Raised in Nutbush, Tennessee, in the early 1950s, Anna Mae Bullock returns home from church one day to see her mother Zelma leaving, and taking her elder sister Alline with her. She is distraught over her mother leaving and is consoled by her grandmother Georgeanna. Six years later, a teenage Anna Mae relocates to St. Louis, where she reunites with her mother and Alline. While in St. Louis, Alline takes Anna to a nightclub at East St. Louis, where she sees bandleader Ike Turner perform with his band Kings of Rhythm. After nights of seeing women in the crowd coming onstage to sing with Ike, Anna finally gets her chance to perform for Ike and impresses him so much that he offers to mentor her and produce her music.

As the first frontwoman of Kings of Rhythm, along with the formation of a backing girl group (later known as the Ikettes), Anna develops a local popularity at the St. Louis club scene. The two record a hit song, "A Fool in Love" and develop a romance. Anna becomes pregnant with their son and learns, while in the hospital, that her name has changed to Tina Turner after the radio station announces the name "Ike & Tina Turner" following the playing of "A Fool in Love". The couple drives to Tijuana to get married and soon after the Ike & Tina Turner Revue becomes a national sensation and relocates to Los Angeles. Upon learning that Ike & Tina have moved to Los Angeles, Ike's former girlfriend Lorraine Taylor makes an unexpected visit to their new home and drops off their two sons, which further complicates matters at home.

One day while at home, Tina voices her opinion that Ike's music "all sounds the same", which leads to Ike beating her in front of their four sons. Following a performance on a teen rock and roll show in 1966, Tina is offered a solo deal with Phil Spector for the song, "River Deep – Mountain High." Following the release of the song, the duo open for the Rolling Stones in London and find success with their recording of "Proud Mary", which transforms the Revue from a national R&B phenomenon to an international sensation. Over time, crowds begin clamoring more to Tina than Ike, which causes further tension as Ike discovers cocaine.

During one recording session of the song, "Nutbush City Limits" in 1973, an addicted Ike violently rapes Tina in their home recording studio for not singing the song to his satisfaction, blaming her for the duo's issues in following their previous hits. Feeling hopeless, Tina attempts suicide by overdosing a full bottle of sleeping pills before a show and is rushed to a hospital where she recovers. Tina eventually visits a friend, a former Ikette, who convinces her to practice Buddhism and the chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo which leads Tina to find a newfound strength. Then, in 1976, while en route to a show in Dallas, a fed-up Tina begins to annoy Ike and they get into a physical altercation in the limousine on their way to the hotel. Upon their arrival, Ike falls asleep and Tina flees, running across a freeway to the Ramada Inn where she finds refuge. Tina later files for divorce and in the final matter, she agrees to give up everything except her stage name.

In 1980, Tina begins rebuilding her career at the cabaret circuit and invites a young impresario named Roger Davies to see her perform so he could manage her and help her realize her dreams as a rock star. Impressed that she still could perform, Davies agrees to manage her. Still, the presence of Ike threatens to derail her chances. Turning to her Buddhist faith, she prepares for a show at the Ritz Theatre in 1983 where Ike confronts her at her dressing room with a gun. Undeterred, Tina verbally silences him and leaves the dressing room where she dazzles the audience at the Ritz with her new hit single, "What's Love Got to Do with It", where she eventually realizes her dream of being a rock superstar.

Cast

Production

Taylor Hackford was originally slated to direct; however, Hackford would later be replaced by Mario Van Peebles, who also wanted to play Ike Turner. Van Peebles left the project to direct Posse (1993). Touchstone Pictures offered the film to Brian Gibson, who was about to direct The Thing Called Love (1993) for Paramount Pictures. Gibson choose to helm the Touchstone project due to a more profitable pay-or-play deal which Paramount failed to match.[4]

Halle Berry, Robin Givens, Pam Grier, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and Vanessa L. Williams were all considered for the lead role.[5] Houston was actually offered the role, but had to decline due to imminent maternity. Jenifer Lewis also originally auditioned to play Tina but was cast instead as Tina's mother despite being only a year older than Bassett.[6]

Angela Bassett auditioned in October 1992 and was chosen only a month before production began in December. During that time, she had to learn not only how to talk like Turner but to dance and move like her. She would have been willing to try to do the singing as well, but ''not in the time we had,'' she said. ''I did think about it for a second, though.'' Instead, she lipsyncs to soundtracks recorded by Tina and Fishburne. Bassett worked with Tina, but only ''a little bit.'' Turner helped most with the re-creations of her famed dance routines.[7] She also re-recorded new versions of all the songs used in the film.

Laurence Fishburne was offered the role of Ike five times and turned it down each time.[8] "It was pretty one-sided," said Fishburne, who turned down the project based on the script he first read. Ike, Fishburne added, was "obviously the villain of the piece, but there was no explanation as to why he behaved the way he behaved - why she was with him for 16 to 20 years, what made her stay." The writers made some changes and though Ike is still shown as a pretty despicable sort, the film offers at least some insight into him - most notably a scene in which Ike recalls watching, at age 6, his father's death from wounds suffered in a fight over a woman. The changes helped persuade Fishburne to do the role, but he says that Bassett's casting as Tina "was the deciding factor."

Fishburne did not have Ike around to help model his performance as much as he would have liked. He met him once during production. "He was not particularly welcome on this project," Fishburne says. The actor's only meeting was a brief introduction when Ike showed up at the Turners' former home in View Park during a location shoot. Ike signed some autographs and showed Fishburne his walk. "It was nice to meet him," says Fishburne. "Regardless of his actions, he was so much a part of Tina's life. The movie is about him just as much as her. It's unfortunate that he wasn't welcomed, that both of them weren't around more." Director Gibson had no contact with Ike. "I never spoke to him," says Gibson. "I was not allowed to. Disney felt that it would not be a good idea."

Screenwriter Kate Lanier omitted much of the brutality Tina said she endured in her book.[9] Her character was also sanitized; most notably, her relationship with saxophonist Raymond Hill and the birth of their son was excluded from the film.[10] Lanier admitted that Tina Turner was not happy with certain aspects of the film because some parts were fictionalized. Tina Turner tried to talk to the Disney filmmakers about the script. In 1993, she told Vanity Fair that they saw "a deep need" to make a film about "a woman who was a victim to a con man. How weak! How shallow! How dare you think that was what I was? I was in control every minute there. I was there because I wanted to be, because I had promised." She added, "O.K. so if I was a victim, fine. Maybe I was a victim for a short while. But give me credit for thinking the whole time I was there. See, I do have pride."[11]

Historical accuracy

Although the film was adapted from Tina Turner's autobiography I, Tina, elements of the script were "fictionalized for dramatic purposes".

Reception

Critical reception

What's Love Got to Do with It received widespread critical acclaim.[18] [19] [20] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 97% based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's consensus is: "With a fascinating real-life story and powerhouse performances from Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne, What's Love Got to Do with It is a can't miss biopic."[21] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average to critics' reviews, gave the film an average score of 76 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[22] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[23]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote: "The brilliant, mercurial portrayal of Ike Turner by Laurence Fishburne, formerly known as Larry, is what elevates What's Love Got to Do With It beyond the realm of run-of-the-mill biography."[24] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave it a score of four out of four, calling it, "A powerful, joyful, raw, energetically acted bio-pic detailing the joys and pain of the on- and offstage lives of blues rockers Ike and Tina Turner."[25]

Responses by Tina and Ike

Tina Turner stated she wished the film had not portrayed her as a "victim". In 2018, Turner told Oprah Winfrey that she had only recently watched the film. She said, "I watched a little bit of it, but I didn't finish it because that was not how things went. Oprah, I didn't realize they would change the details so much."[26] Despite her disapproval of elements of the film, Turner heavily praised Bassett's portrayal of her. When Bassett was named one of Times 100 most influential people in 2023, Turner wrote of Bassett's portrayal of her in What's Love Got to Do With It: "Angela, the first time we met, you didn't look, sound, or move like me—that came later after you worked so hard to make it happen. But even then, I could see that the young woman standing before me had strength, determination, and big, big dreams, just like me. 'She's perfect,' I said, and I was right. You never mimicked me. Instead, you reached deep into your soul, found your inner Tina, and showed her to the world."[27] [28]

Ike Turner said that the film and Tina Turner's book are "filled with lies".[29] [30] In his autobiography, Takin' Back My Name, he said Fishburne did "a fantastic job, though the job he did isn't really me". He also stated he was upset about the rape scene, which he claimed was fabricated and "was the lowest thing they could have ever done". He added that the film damaged his reputation.

Box office

The film grossed $40.1 million in the United States and Canada and $20.5 million internationally for a worldwide total of $60.6 million.[3]

Awards

AwardCategoryNominee(s)Result
Academy Awards[31] Best ActorLaurence Fishburne
Best ActressAngela Bassett
American Choreography AwardsOutstanding Achievement in Feature FilmMichael Peters
Artios Awards[32] Best Casting for Feature Film – DramaReuben Cannon
Brit AwardsBest Soundtrack/Cast RecordingWhat's Love Got to Do with It
Chicago Film Critics Association AwardsBest ActorLaurence Fishburne
Best ActressAngela Bassett[33]
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association AwardsBest Actress
Golden Globe Awards[34] Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Grammy AwardsBest Female Pop Vocal Performance"I Don't Wanna Fight" – Tina Turner
Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television"I Don't Wanna Fight" – Steve DuBerry, Lulu Lawrie & Billy Lawrie
MTV Movie AwardsBest Female PerformanceAngela Bassett
NAACP Image Awards[35] Outstanding Actor in a Motion PictureLaurence Fishburne
Outstanding Actress in a Motion PictureAngela Bassett
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion PictureVanessa Bell Calloway
Jenifer Lewis
Young Artist Awards[36] Best Youth Actress Co-Starring in a Motion Picture – DramaRae'Ven Larrymore Kelly

American Film Institute

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

Top lists

Soundtrack

See main article: What's Love Got to Do with It (album).

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alan Menken on Losing Disney Lyricist Howard Ashman to AIDS: 'It Was Crushing' . . 12 August 2020 . 14 December 2023 . 14 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231214211717/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/howard-ashman-documentary-alan-menken_n_5f32f61ec5b64cc99fdf2c60/amp . live .
  2. Web site: What's Love Got to Do With It (1993) - Financial Information . . 2022-03-12 . 2023-04-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230415074846/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Whats-Love-Got-to-Do-With-It#tab=summary . live .
  3. Variety. M-56. October 17, 1994. Top 100 grossers worldwide, '93-94.
  4. Web site: AFICatalog . 2023-05-26 . catalog.afi.com . 2023-05-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230526181535/https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59707-WHATS-LOVEGOTTODOWITHIT?sid=328a033b-a065-4c12-a4d3-7512c9cf8002&sr=16.794794&cp=1&pos=0 . live .
  5. News: SUMMER SNEAKS : Tina Turner's Story Through a Disney Prism : The singer's film biography, 'What's Love Got to Do With It,' focuses on her turbulent relationship with her mentor and ex-husband Ike Turner as well as her triumphant comeback - Los Angeles Times. Walker. Michael. May 16, 1993. Los Angeles Times. 2013-10-06. 0458-3035. 2018-09-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20180927094245/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-16/entertainment/ca-35747_1_tina-turner/3. live.
  6. News: Alexander. Keith L.. 2017-11-24. How 'Blackish' star Jenifer Lewis became 'the mother of black Hollywood'. en-US. The Washington Post. 2021-07-27. 0190-8286.
  7. News: How Laurence And Angela Became Ike And Tina. tribunedigital-orlandosentinel. 2017-10-24. en. 2018-10-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20181003230342/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1993-06-18/entertainment/9306180934_1_tina-turner-fishburne-play-tina. live.
  8. Web site: 19 August 2020 . Jung . E. Alex . Laurence Fishburne Knows Who He Is . Vulture . Well, I turned the movie down five times. The reason I said yes finally was because Angie was going to play the part. . 3 September 2020 . 21 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200821082213/https://www.vulture.com/article/laurence-fishburne-in-conversation.html . live .
  9. Collier. Aldore. July 1993. 'What's Love Git To Do With It': Larry Fishburne and Angela Bassett portray Ike and Tina Turner In New Movie. Ebony. 48. 9. 110–112. 2020-11-07.
  10. Book: Turner, Tina.. I, Tina. 1986. Morrow. Loder, Kurt.. 0688060897. 1st. New York. 13069211.
  11. Orth. Maureen. May 1993. Tina Turner – The Lady Has Legs!. Vanity Fair. 2019-12-07. 2019-05-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20190501042102/https://maureenorth.com/1993/05/tina-turner-the-lady-has-legs/. live.
  12. Book: McGee, David. B.B. King: There is Always One More Time. 2005. Hal Leonard Corporation. 978-0-87930-843-8. 86. en. 2021-12-06.
  13. Web site: Six definitive songs: The ultimate beginner's guide to Otis Redding. 9 September 2020. 2021-07-26. en-US. 2021-07-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20210726100656/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/otis-redding-best-songs/. live.
  14. Book: Turner, Ike.. Takin' Back My Name: The Confessions of Ike Turner. 1999. Virgin. Cawthorne, Nigel, 1951-. 1852278501. London. 43321298.
  15. Book: Greensmith, Bill. Blues Unlimited: Essential Interviews from the Original Blues Magazine. University of Illinois Press. Russell, Tony, Camarigg, Mark, Rowe, Mike. 2015. 9780252097508. 247–248. 2020-11-07.
  16. Book: Tina Turner: Break Every Rule . 67 . Bego, Mark . 1998 . Rowman & Littlefield . November 18, 2018 . 9781589792531.
  17. Web site: Tina Turner Album Discography. 2021-07-26. AllMusic. en. 2023-04-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20230415073342/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tina-turner-mn0000597309/discography. live.
  18. Web site: Tina turns tumultuous life into 'Love' . The Baltimore Sun . 1993-06-18 . 2013-10-05 . 2013-10-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131007033932/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-06-18/entertainment/1993169235_1_tina-turner-laurence-fishburne-angela-bassett . live .
  19. News: Movie Review : 'Love': Playing It Nice and Rough : Exceptional Acting Powers Story of Up and Downs of Ike and Tina Turner . . 1993-06-09 . 2013-10-05 . Kenneth . Turan . Kenneth Turan . 2019-03-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190323092641/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-09-ca-1063-story.html . live .
  20. Web site: Rickey . Carrie . For Pop Queen Tina Turner, Life Was Never, Ever Nice And Easy . https://web.archive.org/web/20131006225533/http://articles.philly.com/1993-06-11/entertainment/25973837_1_tina-turner-pygmalion-wife-beating . dead . October 6, 2013 . Philly.com . 1994-03-24 . 2013-10-05.
  21. Web site: What's Love Got to Do With It . June 6, 2023 . . . September 22, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240922033602/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/whats_love_got_to_do_with_it . live .
  22. Web site: What's Love Got to Do With It Reviews . February 4, 2023 . . . September 22, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240922034030/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/whats-love-got-to-do-with-it/ . live .
  23. Web site: Home . 2023-02-05 . . en-US.
  24. Web site: 9 June 1993 . Maslin . Janet . Janet Maslin . Review/Film: What's Love Got to Do With It; Tina Turner's Tale: Living Life With Ike and Then Without Him . . 3 September 2020 . 16 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220316005844/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/09/movies/review-film-what-s-love-got-with-it-tina-turner-s-tale-living-life-with-ike-then.html . live .
  25. Web site: June 11, 1993 . Siskel . Gene . Gene Siskel . Tina Turner Story Tunes in to the Rhythms of Real Life . chicagotribune.com . 2020-09-03 . 2018-10-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20181004192544/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-06-11-9306110022-story.html . live .
  26. Web site: Tina Turner Talks To Oprah About Keeping Her Spirits Up After a Stroke and Losing Her Son . Oprah magazine . 2018-10-03 . 2018-12-20 . 2018-12-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230655/https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/a23550728/oprah-tina-turner-november-2018-magazine-interview/ . live .
  27. Angela Bassett Is on the 2023 TIME 100 List. Turner. Tina. Tina Turner. April 13, 2023. Time. May 25, 2023. September 22, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240922032113/https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269879/angela-bassett/. live.
  28. News: How a 1993 Tina Turner biopic created a new generation of fans. Pannett. Rachel. May 25, 2023. The Washington Post. May 25, 2023. May 27, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230527210122/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/05/25/tina-turner-death-whats-love-got-to-do-with-it/. live.
  29. News: Q&A with Ike Turner : 'I Was the One Who Turned Her Into Tina Turner' . Los Angeles Times . 1993-06-24 . 2013-10-05 . Chuck . Philips . 2024-09-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240922032226/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-24-ca-6761-story.html . live .
  30. July 19, 1993. Ike Turner Says Movie Is False, Denies Beating Ex-Wife Tina Turner. Jet. 14.
  31. Web site: The 66th Academy Awards (1994) Nominees and Winners . October 22, 2011 . . AMPAS . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110706100012/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/66th-winners.html . July 6, 2011 .
  32. Web site: Nominees/Winners . . July 9, 2019 . November 19, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201119025144/https://www.castingsociety.com/awards/artios/1994 . live .
  33. News: Angela Bassett: Grounded--and Soaring as an Actress : After Vampires, Strange Days, the Film Star Can 'Exhale'. The Los Angeles Times. 1995-12-22. 2010-12-22. Gene. Seymour. 2024-09-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20240922032249/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-22-ca-16955-story.html. live.
  34. Web site: Winners & Nominees: What's Love Got to Do with It . . 28 March 2021 . .
  35. News: Michael Jackson Shares Whitney Houston's Spotlight : Honors: Houston wins five NAACP Image Awards, but Jackson gets cheers in a show marked by controversy.. Los Angeles Times. 1994-01-07. 2016-01-22. 0458-3035. en-US. MARISA. LEONARDI. 2012-07-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20120715034132/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-01-07/entertainment/ca-9458_1_whitney-houston. live.
  36. Web site: 15th Annual Youth In Film Awards . 2011-03-31 . YoungArtistAwards.org . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110403132553/http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms15.htm . 2011-04-03 .
  37. Web site: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers . . 2016-08-14 . 2011-03-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110313150511/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/cheers100.pdf . live .
  38. News: EBONY Readers Poll End Of Year . 12 September 1994. Johnson Publishing Company. March 31, 2018.
  39. Top 9 Subjects of a Music Bio-Pic . Entertainment Weekly. 2018-03-20.
  40. Web site: Top 10 Best Rock Biopics. Rolling Stone Readers' Poll. 2018-03-20. 2018-03-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20180320230447/https://seattle.bibliocommons.com/list/share/75631039/319269737. live.
  41. Web site: The Best Black Movies of the Last 30 Years. Complex. 2018-03-31. 2024-09-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20240922032740/https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/khal/the-best-black-movies-of-the-last-30-years. live.