What's Love Got to Do with It? (1993)

What's Love Got to Do With It? was one of the rare films which garnered Oscar nominations for both its leads, yet met with critical indifference in all other respects. As Angela Bassett smiles through her tears and Laurence Fishburne glowers in the background, the actors expertly create a dynamic marked by hours of untold intimidation beyond that which director Brian Gibson chooses to dramatize. Whispering sweet nothings to his wife one moment and dragging her by the scalp the next, Fishburne gets under the skin of one of music's most hair-trigger personalities, which earned the actor the best notices of his career. Bassett's crumbling confidence and wrenching sadness pierce the viewer's very heart, making for an equally unforgettable performance that works just as well as an impersonation of Tina Turner's unique vocal swagger. Not only do the performers shine individually, but also as a professional team devoted to true emotions and moments, having worked together as husband and wife just two years before in Boyz 'N the Hood. The raw physicality of their craft shines through. But Gibson's film is quite conventional in much of its other methodology, which makes it less than the sum of its two outstanding parts. Since the Turners' abusive co-dependent relationship is the hook everybody knows about, a lot of what leads up to it seems like bland biopic window dressing. Still, it's hard to pick too much at an essentially actor-driven film that packs such a wallop in its area of strength. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide