What's Love Got To Do With It?

What's Love Got To Do With It? (1993)

  • 97% of critics liked it
    (35 reviews)

  • 83% of users liked it
    (51,281 ratings)

What's Love Got to Do With It? is the filmed biography of R&B/pop singer Tina Turner (Angela Bassett), documenting her efforts to break away from her abusive husband Ike (Laurence Fishburne). After a few scenes detailing Tina's life as a young singer in Nutbush, TN, she's discovered by… More

R,
Directed By
Written By
Tina Turner, Kurt Loder, Kate Lanier
Genres
Musical & Performing Arts, Drama
In Theaters
Jun 9, 1993 Wide
On DVD
Jun 4, 2002
Touchstone Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    A passionate personal and professional drama that hits both the high and low notes of an extraordinary career.

  • Geoff Andrew, Time Out

    Angela Bassett shakes her tail feather with aplomb and pins down the singer's gestures with amazing precision. Top honours, however, belong to Fishburne's swaggering, savage portrayal of Ike.

  • Janet Maslin, New York Times

    The brilliant, mercurial portrayal of Ike Turner by Laurence Fishburne is what elevates What's Love Got to Do With It beyond the realm of run-of-the-mill biography.

  • Desson Thomson, Washington Post

    A melodrama of starry-eyed love and black-eyed beatings, exhausting road tours and the singer's even harder road to self-realization, the movie contains its emotional highs and lows in the hermetically sealed bio-pic format.

  • Rita Kempley, Washington Post

    A handsome woman with the lanky appeal of Katharine Hepburn, Bassett brays and bruises with equal effectiveness.

Read all 20 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Lucas M


    A powerful and shocking portrayal of the book "I, Tina", that bring a terrific acting of Bassett and Fishburne. Fresh.

  • Anthony L


    I'm always a bit weary of biopics like this as you can never tell what is true and what is favourable fiction. That said, this is certainly not sugar-coated, it's quite brutal and quite brave, Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne were both brilliant and deserve more credit… More

  • Lady D


    The life story of Tina Turner, from her rise to fame with Husband Ike Turner, to the domestic abuse she suffered and the courage of the woman who reinvented herself and became a star in her own right. Angela Bassett lives and breaths Tina Turner in her interpretation of the… More

  • Keysha H


    Fantastic film about a triumphing woman! And so quotable.."I don't want the cake Ike!"

  • Candy R


    Excellent portrayal of Tina's life and career. It's sad that she suffered so much domestic violence.

Read all 12 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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