What's Love Got to Do With It | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

97% Tomatometer 59 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings

Based on the life of the legendary soul singer, Tina Turner (Angela Bassett) -- born Anna Mae Bullock -- discovers her love of singing in her Tennessee church choir. She moves to St. Louis to pursue a career, and there she meets the charismatic Ike Turner (Laurence Fishburne), who rechristens her Tina and offers to help her succeed. As a musical team, Ike and Tina take the charts by storm. But as his physical abuse worsens, Tina has to make the tough decision to leave Ike and set out on her own.

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What's Love Got to Do With It

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Critics Consensus

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.

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Critics Reviews

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What's Love Got to Do With It | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Derek Malcolm Guardian What's Love Got To Do With It may not be quite in the class of George Cukor but it's a lot better, for instance, than Mark Rydell's picking of the bones of Janis Joplin in The Rose. May 12, 2021 Full Review What's Love Got to Do With It | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Stephen Amidon Financial Times The two leads turn in powerful performances. Apr 21, 2021 Full Review What's Love Got to Do With It | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Geoff Brown Times (UK) As an actor's showcase, the film is a dream. Apr 21, 2021 Full Review What's Love Got to Do With It | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Joseph Robinson Fish Jelly Films (YouTube) What's Love Got to Do With It is a classic and should be used as the blueprint for this sort of sweeping biopic: superb acting, a strong script, excellent production value, and access to the artist's material. Rated: 4.5/5 Jul 29, 2023 Full Review What's Love Got to Do With It | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Roger Moore Movie Nation Bassett is riveting in the title role. And rewatching it, I have to say Fishburne was even better. The fact that she seemed destined to lose the Oscar for not singing in this film probably hurt Fish’s best shot at an Academy Award. Rated: 2.5/4 May 25, 2023 Full Review What's Love Got to Do With It | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Philip French Observer (UK) A major high spot and a pivotal point in the couple's troubled relationship comes when Phil Spector intrudes to produce 'River Deep, Mountain High'. The power of the song embodies the drama. May 12, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Em B This is possibly one of the greatest biopics I have ever seen. Not only is it well written and directed, but Angela Bassett as an actress pulls the audience in from the jump. I think Angela Bassett did a better job of playing Tina Turner than Tina Turner herself and that's what you call a great actor. One of the biggest things Tina was renowned for was her stage presence and showmanship and Angela gave this in buckets. Lawrence Fishburne who played Ike Turner was just as good as well as Vanessa Bell Calloway. Really well written and something I can easily watch again and again (the first time I watched this was back in 1993) and never be bored. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/15/24 Full Review Test T I watched this on DVD recently. It's a high quality biopic which pulls few punches telling Tina Turner's life story. A big plus is the musical score which features many of Tina's greatest hits. It's produced in a way that captures your attention right from the off, and it's not long before you'll feel like you are living alongside Tina & Ike inside their world. Sadly, the story is not a pretty one, with domestic violence featuring prominently throughout, although it's also uplifting when Tina breaks free from Ike and goes on to suceed as an independent artist. Considering it was released in 1993, when VHS tape was the dominant media, the film looks very good by modern standards and has aged surprisingly well. Highly recommended. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/15/24 Full Review Sam B Tina Turner, one of my all time favorite performers, that energy, that talent, utter legend! Very hard movie to watch at times, but shows light will always overcome darkness. Simply the best, Tina's light will shine forever! Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/14/24 Full Review Avery R Angela Basset does a great job as the late icon Tina Turner and it really shows during the abusive scenes with Ike Turner played by Laurence Fishbone. Tina Turner really was truly the definition of an icon that really was a superstar in helping people overcome obstacles like abuse and domestic violence that even she had to endure through experience this movie is a great brilliant tribute to a wonderful woman who was simply the best! Rest in peace Tina Turner! Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/11/23 Full Review Christina L If you love music bios and Tina Turner, please watch this. Domestic abuse is such a huge topic that needs to be spoken about. Tina served as the messenger for everyone. Outstanding soundtrack too 👌🏽 Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/05/23 Full Review Deontae D Great movie, Angela Bassett did a good job portraying as the legendary singer Tina Turner, What's love go to do with it is a good song, Sad movie too, R.I.P Tina Turner🙏 Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews

What's Love Got to Do With It

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Cast & Crew

Brian Gibson Director Angela Bassett Tina Turner Laurence Fishburne Ike Turner, Sr. Vanessa Bell Calloway Jackie Jenifer Lewis Zelma Bullock RaéVen Larrymore Kelly Young Anna Mae Bullock
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Synopsis Based on the life of the legendary soul singer, Tina Turner (Angela Bassett) -- born Anna Mae Bullock -- discovers her love of singing in her Tennessee church choir. She moves to St. Louis to pursue a career, and there she meets the charismatic Ike Turner (Laurence Fishburne), who rechristens her Tina and offers to help her succeed. As a musical team, Ike and Tina take the charts by storm. But as his physical abuse worsens, Tina has to make the tough decision to leave Ike and set out on her own.

Director
Brian Gibson

Producer
Doug Chapin, Barry Krost

Screenwriter
Tina Turner, Kurt Loder, Kate Lanier

Distributor
Abril Vídeo, Buena Vista Pictures

Production Co
Touchstone Pictures

Rating
R

Genre
Biography

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 9, 1993, Wide

Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2014

Box Office (Gross USA)
$38.9M

Runtime
1h 58m

Sound Mix
Surround
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What's Love Got to Do With It | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

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