‘What’s Love Got to Do with It’
A high-energy mix of spectacular music, vigorous acting and cliched situations, this 1993 release is a rough-and-rowdy fairy tale with a feminist subtext. If that sounds perplexing, it pumps up the volume so much you won’t have much time to think about it. Although subtitled “The True Life Story of Tina Turner,” the film has less in common with anyone’s reality than with generations of glossy show-biz biopics. The biggest assets in the film are the exceptional actors who play Tina and Ike. Angela Bassett (pictured) and Laurence Fishburne bring to this film the ability to deepen characters in ways that are not in the script. Although the picture rightfully belongs to the Oscar-nominated Bassett, Fishburne never fails to make Ike remarkably compelling, human if not defensible (TMC Tuesday at 11:20 p.m., Showtime Friday at 8 p.m.)
More to Read
Only good movies
Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.