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

What's Love Got to Do with It?
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Brian Gibson
Produced by	Doug Chapin Barry Krost
Screenplay by	Kate Lanier
Based on	I, Tina by Tina Turner Kurt Loder
Starring	Angela Bassett Laurence Fishburne Khandi Alexander Jenifer Lewis Phyllis Yvonne Stickney Rae'Ven Larrymore Kelly Chi McBride
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures
Release date(s)	June 9, 1993 (1993-06-09)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$39,100,956

What's Love Got to Do with It is a 1993 biopic loosely based on the life story of musician Tina Turner. Directed by Brian Gibson, it stars Angela Bassett as Tina Turner and Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner.

The screenplay was adapted by Jade Takacs from the book I, Tina written by Tina Turner and Kurt Loder and both Ike and Tina Turner signed rights to Takacs to have their lives dramatized on the film. The film's soundtrack featured the hit song "I Don't Wanna Fight", which went to number one in seven countries. In the United States, the film grossed almost $50 million and around $20 million in rentals. In the United Kingdom, it grossed nearly 10 million USD.

Plot

Born and raised in a small Tennessee town, Anna Mae Bullock grows up in an unhappy family with her parents later leaving and abandoning her and her sister. Following her grandmother's death, she relocates to St. Louis, reuniting with her mother and close sister Alline, and starts seeking a chance to be a professional singer after seeing charismatic bandleader Ike Turner perform one night. Later she wins her spot in Turner's band after singing onstage and Ike Turner begins mentoring her. In time, an unexpected romance develops between the two after she moves in Ike's home. Little afterwards, they get married and begin having musical success together as Ike and Tina Turner.

The marriage quickly turns volatile when Ike Turner starts physically dominating her, leaving her with no chance to escape. In public, Tina Turner rises from local St. Louis phenomenon into an R&B superstar with Ike Turner growing increasingly jealous of the attention given to her. Ike Turner turns to drugs and his abusive behavior grows worse. Looking to seek solace in her chaotic life, a friend turns her on to Buddhism, eventually convincing her that it'll help her "change her life". Tina Turner grows increasingly confident afterwards and in a final fight with her and Ike Turner, finally musters up the courage to defend herself against Ike's hits, eventually leaving Ike after they arrive to a hotel.

After earning the right to retain her stage name following their divorce, Turner continues working to pay bills and gets a break after meeting Roger Davies, who eventually helps her to realize her dreams of rock stardom. Despite Ike Turner's attempts to woo her back both nicely and angrily, Tina Turner eventually prevails and finds solo success accomplishing her dreams without Ike.

Cast

• Angela Bassett as Anna Mae Bullock/Tina Turner
• Rae'Ven Larrymore Kelly as young Anna Mae Bullock
• Cora Lee Day as Grandma Georgiana
• Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner
• Jenifer Lewis as Zelma Bullock
• Phyllis Yvonne Stickney as Alline Bullock
• Penny Johnson Jerald as Lorraine Turner
• Vanessa Bell Calloway as Jackie
• Chi McBride as Fross
• Sherman Augustus as Reggie
• Terrence Riggins as Spider
• Bo Kane as Dance Show Host
• Rob LaBelle as Phil Spector
• James Reyne as Roger Davies
• Richard T. Jones as Ike Turner, Jr.
• Shavar Ross as Michael Turner
• Damon Hines as Ronnie Turner
• Suli McCullogh as Craig Turner

Differences from noted events

Though the film took its story from Tina Turner's autobiography, I, Tina, it was determined to be only loosely based from the book, meaning certain events in the film were "fictionalized for dramatic purposes". Examples of the fictionalized scenes include:

• In the film, Tina's constant friend during the film, "Jackie" (played by Vanessa Bell Calloway) was put in the story. Tina Turner never had a friend named Jackie. The same friend is not only a member of The Ikettes but is also shown as the person who visits Tina in the hospital after her attempted suicide and later converts Tina to Buddhism.

• When Anna Mae Bullock sees Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm perform, Ike is shown as the front man but while the real life Ike Turner was a band leader and organizer, he had another singer - possibly Billy Gales - singing lead vocals while he performed with his back turned to the crowd, which was a trademark of his as he had had stage fright and thought he couldn't sing. Also the original singer behind the song "Ike Turner" sings, "Rocket 88", was actually sung by Kings of Rhythm band mate Jackie Brenston.

• When young Anna Mae Bullock is seen taking the microphone to audition for Ike Turner, it's taken that it's the first time Anna Mae had sung for Ike but Tina recalls trying to convince Ike to let her sing for him and had been put off. She also further recalls confidently and quickly grabbing the microphone from her sister's hands and singing in front of Ike. The film shows Tina shyly grabbing the microphone but that was an inaccurate detail, her sister is shown as a bartender to Club Manhattan but in reality she was driving Tina to the club.

• The film depicts that Ike and Tina started their career together right after meeting in 1958 but Tina (who was going by the name Little Ann) was only Ike's background singer. The duo wouldn't officiate until 1960 after Sue Records president Juggy Murray convinced Ike to not take Tina's vocals off his song, "A Fool in Love". Also in the film, where Tina is recording the song, "Tina's Wish", the song was actually recorded in 1973 under the name, "Make Me Over", released off the Ike and Tina album, Nutbush City Limits.

• When Ike and Tina perform at the Apollo Theater in 1960, the bill lists them with Martha and the Vandellas and Otis Redding. Martha and the Vandellas didn't have a hit record and were only known as the Del-Phis during that period while Otis Redding had just started his career with a band and wasn't nationally known yet.

• The scene where Tina and their newborn son are taken out of the hospital by Ike and his friends was untrue according to Ike Turner. Tina Turner, who hasn't seen the film since its release, also denied such an event occurring.

• The film shows Tina giving birth to Ike's son and is named Craig but in reality, Craig Turner was actually Tina's child with another man, Raymond Hill. Ike and Tina wouldn't have a child until 1960 when son Ronnie Turner was born.

• Like Vanessa Bell Calloway's character "Jackie", there was no "Fross", "Reggie" or "Spider" in Ike and Tina's private circle.

• While Tina mentions that there were accounts of Ike being abusive to Tina in public, there was no incident where Ike pushed cake in Tina's face leading to a food fight in the club. In her book, I, Tina, Tina does describe that while sitting in her car waiting for food, someone came out with a pound cake and said that she had ordered it but said she hadn't, Ike allegedly told her she was gonna eat it anyway.

• Allegedly, when the film shows Tina calling her mother while trying to escape from Ike, her mother tells her that Ike had bought her a home, according to reports, this story was also false and probably included in for dramatization purposes. When Ike Turner locates her whereabouts and then admonishes her for telling her mother, it indicates that Ike Turner got to find out where Tina was going by her mother, this was also inaccurate. In Tina's I, Tina book, she recalls that Ike Turner knew where to find her.

• When Ike and Tina are performing "Proud Mary", the timeline has it around 1968 with them opening for The Rolling Stones. "Proud Mary" was out in 1969 and Ike and Tina didn't put the song into their act until 1970. Also, Ike and Tina opened for the Stones twice, in 1966 on their UK tour, and in 1969 on their US tour.

• The film alleges that Ike and Tina didn't have a hit after "A Fool in Love" was released but in truth, the duo had several hit singles between the release of "A Fool in Love" and "River Deep - Mountain High" including "It's Gonna Work Out Fine", "I Idolize You", "Tra La La" and "Poor Fool".

• In the film's most infamous scene where Ike allegedly committed rape against Tina - which the ex-couple denied happened, they later show her in a drugged state where her Ikettes noticed that she had attempted suicide, with the timeline in 1974 but the attempted suicide was a result of hearing that Ike was having another child with a woman around the same time Tina was pregnant with his child, and it occurred in 1968.

• When Tina Turner performs at the Ritz Theater, the film has the timeline at 1983 and the host announces her arrival as her "debut solo performance" but Tina had performed at the theater in 1981 and again in 1983. Also proven to be inaccurate was Ike Turner's visit to the theater where he failed at silencing Tina with his gun. In truth, Ike Turner was never at the Ritz. In fact, Ike Turner had not been seen in public for years following his and Tina's divorce in 1978 and had remained put in Los Angeles.

• Though the film depicts that Tina Turner had addressed the courtroom to retain her stage name, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1996, she denies speaking up but said her lawyer had brought it up in court.

• The film states at the end that Private Dancer was Tina Turner's first solo album when it was actually her fifth solo album. Her previous four albums were Tina Turns The Country On, Acid Queen, Rough, and Love Explosion.

Awards and nominations

Bassett won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical and an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture. Laurence Fishburne was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Bassett was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The film won an American Choreography Award for one of its dance sequences.

• Academy Awards
  • Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress (Angela Bassett)
  • Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor (Laurence Fishburne)

• Golden Globes
  • Won — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Angela Bassett)

Production

Angela Bassett, nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Tina Turner

Halle Berry, Whitney Houston, Robin Givens, Pam Grier, Vanessa L. Williams and Janet Jackson were all considered for the role of Tina Turner. It was Whitney Houston who was actually offered/received the role, but had to decline due to imminent maternity. Jenifer Lewis, who plays Tina's mother in this film, originally auditioned to play Tina Turner. Lewis is only one year older than Bassett.

Laurence Fishburne was offered the role of Ike Turner five times and turned them all down. When he found out that Angela Bassett was cast as Tina Turner, he changed his mind.

All the Ike and Tina Turner songs that were used in the film were newly re-recorded versions featuring Tina Turner covering her own songs. On "Proud Mary", Laurence Fishburne sings Ike Turner's parts. For Tina Turner's solo recordings the original masters were used, including the Phil Spector-produced "River Deep - Mountain High".

In his autobiography Taking Back My Name, Ike Turner claims the movie damaged his reputation immensely and attacks many of the scenes for being either not strictly accurate or completely fabricated.

Bassett was injured while filming the first spousal abuse sequence. She fell off the back of a high-rise sofa, put her hands out to reduce the impact and suffered a hairline fracture of her right hand. She only tried the stunt fall once, and footage leading up to the mishap appears in the film.

Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway, who plays the fictional character of "Jackie", was wary of chanting the Buddhist words because of her strong Christian faith. Director Brian Gibson allowed her to form the words with her lips silently during filming and added the words with a voice double in post-production. She also appeared alongside Tina in the music video of "What's Love Got to Do with It".

External links

• What's Love Got to Do with It at the Internet Movie Database
• What's Love Got to Do with It at AllRovi
• What's Love Got to Do with It at Rotten Tomatoes