What's Love Got to Do With It?
2/4
Starring: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Jenifer Lewis, Chi McBride, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, Vanessa Bell Calloway
Rated R for Domestic Violence, Strong Language, Drug Use and Some Sexuality
Few things are more dull than a paint-by-the-numbers biopic, and that's what this is. Not only does the film recycle old cliches without giving them any sort of life, it doesn't even fully present them. So not only are we seeing things we've seen in just about every other showbiz drama (the film opens with one of those generic Deep South settings, with the minimalist bluegrass soundtrack...yawn), we're not even seeing all of it.
That's a shame, because Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne give performances that should be seen. Both were given Oscar nominations (deservedly, I might add), but neither the script by Kate Lanier and director Brian Gibson do them justice. The story is generic and the script is weak. Only in the second half are the two allowed to really shine.
The film covers Turner's (Bassett) life from the 50's (after a brief clip where Tina, who's real name was Anna Mae Bullock, got kicked out of the choir for too much passion and came home to find that her mother had left home with her sister), when she met Ike Turner (Fishburne) to when she made her comeback in the 80's. 30 years is too long for a 2 hour movie to cover when you're trying to include everything. The film seems more like a "greatest hits" album rather than a fully constructed narrative. No pun intended.
By far the weakest portion of the film is the beginning, which is constructed purely out of showbiz drama cliches. Let's see, you've got the naive small town girl who has moved to the big city, gets noticed by the artist himself at a concert where she blows away the posers and wannabes for his attention, the mother who is reluctant to allow her daughter to try and make it as a musician...the list goes on.
Once we see Tina and Ike's marriage disintegrate, that's when the film takes off. The script slows down a little and allows Bassett and Fishburne to show what they can do. But director Brian Gibson keeps imploding it by inserting concert footage between each scene. The music is great and Bassett does an amazing job of lip syncing and dancing, but it gets repetitive. Dramatic scene, concert scene. Repeat.
The film's construction is sloppy in general, actually. Characters come and go without warning (for example, Tina's mom disappears from the film without warning or explanation), and genuinely interesting ideas are left undeveloped (like Tina's understanding of Ike's abandonment issues). It's too bad, because some of this material could have given the film life and personality that it so desperately needs.
It's a real pity. Bassett displays more range here than in all of her other movies combined, and Fishburne is magnetic as Ike Turner. They deserved better.
Starring: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Jenifer Lewis, Chi McBride, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, Vanessa Bell Calloway
Rated R for Domestic Violence, Strong Language, Drug Use and Some Sexuality
Few things are more dull than a paint-by-the-numbers biopic, and that's what this is. Not only does the film recycle old cliches without giving them any sort of life, it doesn't even fully present them. So not only are we seeing things we've seen in just about every other showbiz drama (the film opens with one of those generic Deep South settings, with the minimalist bluegrass soundtrack...yawn), we're not even seeing all of it.
That's a shame, because Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne give performances that should be seen. Both were given Oscar nominations (deservedly, I might add), but neither the script by Kate Lanier and director Brian Gibson do them justice. The story is generic and the script is weak. Only in the second half are the two allowed to really shine.
The film covers Turner's (Bassett) life from the 50's (after a brief clip where Tina, who's real name was Anna Mae Bullock, got kicked out of the choir for too much passion and came home to find that her mother had left home with her sister), when she met Ike Turner (Fishburne) to when she made her comeback in the 80's. 30 years is too long for a 2 hour movie to cover when you're trying to include everything. The film seems more like a "greatest hits" album rather than a fully constructed narrative. No pun intended.
By far the weakest portion of the film is the beginning, which is constructed purely out of showbiz drama cliches. Let's see, you've got the naive small town girl who has moved to the big city, gets noticed by the artist himself at a concert where she blows away the posers and wannabes for his attention, the mother who is reluctant to allow her daughter to try and make it as a musician...the list goes on.
Once we see Tina and Ike's marriage disintegrate, that's when the film takes off. The script slows down a little and allows Bassett and Fishburne to show what they can do. But director Brian Gibson keeps imploding it by inserting concert footage between each scene. The music is great and Bassett does an amazing job of lip syncing and dancing, but it gets repetitive. Dramatic scene, concert scene. Repeat.
The film's construction is sloppy in general, actually. Characters come and go without warning (for example, Tina's mom disappears from the film without warning or explanation), and genuinely interesting ideas are left undeveloped (like Tina's understanding of Ike's abandonment issues). It's too bad, because some of this material could have given the film life and personality that it so desperately needs.
It's a real pity. Bassett displays more range here than in all of her other movies combined, and Fishburne is magnetic as Ike Turner. They deserved better.
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