Review of What's Love Got to Do with It? (2002) by Shawn D — 20 Jan 2019

I'm biased, I love Tina Turner and usually don't go a month without listening to her music. When I saw the amazing performance of Angela Bassett I was floored. With ease she captured Tina's grace, charm and even that gruff style she sings with.

Lawrence Fishburne plays Ike and has no problem challenging Bassett's performance. He is suave, sadistic and at the same time foul. Although I'm a big fan of the music I found myself less interested in the concert scenes and more engrossed in the trials and tribulations of Tina Turner's sparring with Ike.

Now I'm going to say this without restraint and judge me as you see fit but the 1993 academy awards was a great injustice to the lead characters of this film. I challenge you to go back and watch The Piano (Holly Hunter) and The Fugitive (Tommy Lee Jones), then watch this.

I dare anyone to justify to me how those two won the award over Basset and Fishburne. Don't get me wrong the other two are fine films and Hunter deserved nominations but Basset owned that award. As for Jones, he had been playing that character for years and still plays it, the character is just named differently in other films.

This is a great movie and I highly recommend it to anyone out there.