JRodFilms

Those familiar with music and rock and roll history will remember Tina's early career alongside Ike Turner; making a name for themselves with the Ike and Tina Turner revue. Sold out shows and radio hits were putting Ike & Tina on the map, grabbing the attention of many industry insiders including music producer Phil Spector.

However, behind the shining lights and glamour was a dark cloud that hung over Tina; with infamous reports of domestic violence with then husband Ike. After divorcing him, Tina was able to keep her stage name and begin her solo career, which is all documented in Tina - with incredible archival footage.

Although the home movies give a nostalgic view into the lives of two music stars, the end result can unfortunately feel like a disservice to its subject. Many times throughout the film, Tina mentions her desire of putting the issue of Ike Turner to rest, only for it to lurk in the shadows as her career reached astronomical heights.

Fans of the 1993 film What's Love Got to Do With It will find the first half of this documentary familiar, as it is nearly an exact retelling of that film, confirmed by home movies and testimony from Tina and those around her during that time. The footage is incredible and sometimes disturbing, especially seeing Tina visibly uncomfortable when Ike reaches her personal space.

With everything that felt familiar, there was information I didn't know: such as the 1981 People magazine interview, and many of her comeback gigs: like appearances on The Brady Bunch Hour, Hollywood Squares and a collaboration of Hollywood Nights with Olivia Newton John.

Alas, films and documentaries are flawed in that you can only cover so much of a person's life. True, Ike Turner was an integral, major part of Tina'sTurners story. But it seems that part of their history could've been glossed over in this specific documentary, and instead focus on Tina's plight after the divorce; especially her trajectory from performing disco cover songs to selling 20 million copies of her Private Dancer album and performing to over 100,000 people in Rio.

Overall, I was left unsatisfied by the documentary, but recommend it especially if you are not familiar with the 1993 film What's Love Got to Do With It. Unfortunately, the existence of that film hurts this documentary for me, where as another recent HBO music biopic, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, felt like new information, as there never was a Hollywood produced film on that group.