Notorious
posted January 14, 2009 12:52 PM
A worthy salute to a slain rapper
Biggie Smalls' biopic kicks off with the usual rapper braggadocio of a childhood on the cutthroat Brooklyn street corners. From there, director George Tillman Jr. slyly cuts to 10-year-old B.I.G., aka Christopher Wallace—a chubby A-student nerd known as "Chrissy-poo" to mom Voletta. Still, by his account he was slanging rock at 13 to afford chains and kicks which he changed into when he left the house, shedding his pullover sweater and tie like a naughty Catholic schoolgirl. As a biography interested in an honest swath of Wallace's life (and one that shuns psychoanalysis), Notorious' broad appeal will welcome and satiate both the devout and the curious; it should open strong and maintain a good box office presence thanks to good word-of-mouth.
Biggie's street cred was always in doubt. Tupac's infamous skit capturing Wallace as a coward afraid of his shadow didn't help; neither did Voletta's repudiation of Biggie's first hit single "Juicy" in the doc Biggie & Tupac where she corrected his downtrodden boast of growing up without food or birthday presents by insisting with pride that she worked hard for their middle class lifestyle and always put plenty on the table. His girth, considerable even as a child, attests to the latter. But with Voletta overseeing as producer, Tillman and writers Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker strike a compromise, capturing young Christopher (played by a credible Christopher Jordan Wallace, the son B.I.G. only knew as an infant) as a charmer, pulling one over on his naive mom. When Voletta (Angela Bassett) catches Biggie kneeling over his crack stash, he convinces her he's praying; later when she finds his white powder, she throws it away thinking—somehow—that it's old mashed potatoes.
Tillman's biography succeeds by playing that same shape-shifting game. If Biggie's rapping, he cuts with the frenetic energy of a music video. If he's stacking up his drug money, the room is shot dark and close and mean and thick with mafioso cigar smoke. Before Wallace picks up the mic for real, Tillman taunts him by basting it in an unapproachable glow like it's the sword in the stone. In scenes with Biggie's family, Tillman floods the room with sunlight and love, and when 17-year-old B.I.G.—now acted by Brooklyn rapper Jamal Woolard—hears his girl Jan (Julia Pace Mitchell) is knocked up, like in a heavy-handed melodrama, Tillman pulls a garbage truck next to the window to symbolize Christopher's likely future as a sanitation engineer.
This isn't a film that takes sides. You have to like Biggie, but you don't have to like his womanizing and absentee fathering, both of which are handled flatly and factually without the stirring of high drama violins. Excepting a few slick nightclub scenes, this is a biopic that avoids glamour—including the glamour of grit and grime. Drug dealing is simply the best career option at the time; when it isn't, Biggie gives it up (with some pressure from Derek Luke as Sean Combs, then in his "Puff Daddy" iteration.) Voletta's breast cancer diagnosis is given more weight than Biggie’s jail stint. Even his sex scenes with Kimberly Denise Jones (Naturi Naughton, fierce and fantastic), a department store clerk several layers of clothing away from becoming Lil' Kim, are humbled with Biggie lazily mumbling "Nuh-uh" to Kim's sweaty pleas to get on top.
The tone matches Biggie himself who could be goaded into mouthing off about his cars and jewels, but refused to obviously exert himself for the audience's affection. On stage, he let Lil' Cease and Puffy bound around like dancing squirrels to hype up the crowd while he held court squatly in center stage, surveying his room of devotees and occasionally rousing himself to tilt his head back, or when especially emphatic, swinging his arm with the gravity of a bear's paw. He had talent—astonishing amounts of it—but the film concedes that the rapper who was hampered by being less sexy than LL Cool J and darker than Heavy D might have never done anything without the hunger of Sean Combs, who here introduces himself and his worldview with, "Throw me into the jungle, I'm going to come out with a chinchilla coat." With Puff's entry comes a barrage of platitudes about working hard and chasing dreams, as well as the dawn of the danceable Bad Boy grooves Combs cobbled together from smart samples as he pushed Biggie away from the early '90s haunting Mobb Deep/Wu Tang Brooklyn jangles. ("What's next? You want me to wear Hammer pants?" grumbles Wallace when Combs plays him the original track for what would become "Juicy.") That Combs executive produced the film doesn't stop it from jabbing at his habit of trying (and failing) to upstage his artist (which might be a stroke of humility). But, this is more likely just a set up for Suge Knight (Sean Ringgold) and his 1995 Source Awards slam: "Any artists out there who wants to be an artist and stay a star, and don't wanna have to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos, all on the records, dancing, come to Death Row."
Which brings us, inevitably, to Tupac and the violent endings we know are coming. Like Luke's Puffy—and to an extent, Woolard, a good rapper with a flexible timber that's lighter than Biggie's volcanic bass—Anthony Mackie doesn't look a thing like his real life counterpart, but he's got "Thug Life" written on his hat and moves with Pac's shimmying physicality. (Mark John Jeffries’ Lil' Cease is perfect.) This is the rare biopic about stars that crashed without a known scapegoat—not even drugs or booze. Here, a paranoiac Tupac is egged on by Knight (the real killer, Biggie & Tupac alleges). Beset by rumors and a media machine reading direct insults into old song lyrics, B.I.G. and Puffy are here confused angels trying to rise above the East-West feud, aggravated by Tupac's taunts that he banged Wallace's wife, Faith Evans (Antonique Smith). When Biggie finally snaps at a show in Sacramento and performs a spiteful version of "Who Shot Ya?", Tillman floods the screen with blood red light as though the double murder is now in motion. In his last months, the post-pubescent crack dealer continues to age beyond his years; hobbled by weight and a car accident, he leans on a cane at 25-years-old. And then he left. His music, hits like "Big Poppa," "Hypnotize," "Mo Money, Mo Problems," "Party and Bullshit," and "Sky's the Limit" drives the soundtrack and leaves behind a proud legacy. Notorious isn't in Biggie’s league—what is? —but it's a worthy salute.
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Cast: Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie, Naturi Naughton and Antonique Smith
Director: George Tillman Jr.
Screenwriters: Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker
Producers: Wayne Barrow, Edward Bates, Trish Hofmann, Mark Pitts, Robert Teitel and Voletta Wallace
Genre: Biography
Rating: Rated R for pervasive language, some strong sexuality including dialogue, nudity, and for drug content.
Running time: 100 min.
Release date: January 16, 2009
29 Comments
Leave a comment
abdo said:
its very gooooooooooood
January 14, 2009 4:42 PM
Samantha said:
The movie was awesome! I really enjoyed it, I just think I went to the wrong movie theater. The people in the theater wasn't from Bklyn so I don't think they really had the genuine feeling of what it was to be present.
January 17, 2009 6:48 AM
tisha said:
I thought this was a great movie for hip-hop lovers !!! now it's time for someone to do a movie about 2-Pac. Most of us as hip hop lovers already knew about Biggie's life but we don't know that much about 2-pac's life just bit's and pieces. So let's get to work!!!!but over all it was a great movie
January 17, 2009 11:23 AM
krystal said:
OMG this movie was just sooo right. The actors was believable and good the one who played Biggie did a great job. Angela Bassett as his mother shr was excellent. This movie rocks! You will not waste the $10.00
January 17, 2009 3:30 PM
Tasha said:
I give the movie 5stars.They really let us in Biggies life.
January 17, 2009 4:24 PM
adrienne said:
GREATTT MOViEEE.....
=]]
January 17, 2009 5:52 PM
ASHLEY said:
OSCAR WORTHY
January 18, 2009 12:21 PM
Valencia said:
This movie was absolutely awesome!!! I would definitely pay to see this movie again. Now that we have been let inside Biggie's Life, I think someone should consider a biopic of Tupac's Life. The characters chosen in this movie were great. Job Very Well Done!
January 18, 2009 4:33 PM
Richard said:
This was a great Movie! Can't wait until it hits DVD.
January 18, 2009 4:35 PM
Wolf said:
Tupac is better then biggie" THUG LIFE"
January 18, 2009 5:10 PM
sarah said:
The movie was very good it gave us a clear insight on BIG's life and a better understanding on the beef that had occured between biggie and pac its sad that both of their lives ended early they are both legends and should never be forgotten.. the guy that played Big in the movie did a tremendous job he played the role well great job.....
January 18, 2009 5:11 PM
Andre said:
This movie was so good that i will pay to see it again.Gravy played the hell out of Biggie.BK stand up.we need a award for this one.
January 18, 2009 7:07 PM
Tank said:
Yo This Movie Was The Right thing right on time im going to see it again today
January 19, 2009 4:25 AM
Jesus said:
It's a great movie. Can't wait to buy the dvd.
January 19, 2009 4:47 AM
latee from bk said:
gravy was great the movie was good we love you bigg
January 19, 2009 9:52 PM
JOSE said:
IT WAS IGHT NOT OSCAR WORTHY RATE IS A NO STAR
January 20, 2009 9:29 AM
JOSE said:
IT WAS IGHT NOT OSCAR WORTHY RATE IS A NO STAR
January 20, 2009 9:30 AM
blacky said:
I HATE BIGGIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THEY MADE 2PAC LOOK LIKE A BITCH WHEN HES ****IN NOT.2PAC FAN 4 LIFE 2PAC HATIN MOTHER****ERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 22, 2009 9:14 AM
Bro Man said:
it was horrible. they aint got the original biggy smalls.so it was wack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 22, 2009 3:03 PM
Faith said:
THE MOVE WAS OK
January 22, 2009 8:33 PM
latique said:
It was good. It too me back to why I loved notorious, and how good it felt to love hip hop in New York from the mid to late 90's.
January 23, 2009 2:49 AM
KLS said:
I loved the movie, but I wouldn't want to see it again. As a true hip-hop lover, and Biggie fan, it was a little too real for me. The guy that played him sounded exactly like him. It was crazy. I agree that a big budget film should be done on Tupac. I'm a fan of his as well. Not to take anything away from BIG, but Tupac's life story has a lot more substance and layers. He started out a revolutionary, and his entire focus was on the betterment of the Black race. His aunt is Assata Shakur, former Black panther/political refugee, who's been living in Cuba for decades on political asylum. I mean, there's so much to Tupac. That guy really had multiple personalities. It would be nice to see the whole beef issue from his vantage point as well.
January 25, 2009 12:19 AM
ROE said:
RIP BIG... but just because hes dead i dont think people are giving the film a fair assesment. I personally expected alot more out of the film,ie:
more music, I thought they did a horrible job playin all those singles like all he was known for was his singles,and "One more chance" they just talked about they didnt even play it.
nobody was in Bad Boy but him and Craig Mack?
never seen the lox, Mase, 112 etc. i know it was about biggie and i respect that but these are people who were around before his death. Come on they played I love the dough and didnt even have Jay-z in the movie. I'm not saying people should have had starring roles just cameos would've been nice
never shot a music video in the film, no hot97 interviews were in the film. He used to murder freestyles with cats like the lox and lil cease
they knew they had a faulty 2pac because when he first made an appearance in the film they said his name like 20 times so you could know it was him(wassup pac, pac wassup man, pac wus hapnin, my man pac wassup)come on now.....
just being a FAN I expected a whole lot more
January 25, 2009 7:54 AM
Fernando said:
The movie is great. So don't mess it up bringing 2-Pac back. His life was just crime, drugs and he died (?) in the mess he was envolved. Period!!!
January 26, 2009 9:09 AM
Lefoko said:
Fernando eat a nut...
January 28, 2009 4:52 AM
Dready Bunks said:
the movie was ok , very good infact however it offered nothing new , nothing i hadnt heard before but then again how could it ..........i get upset of people blaming BIG for Pacs death, i mean come on ...you guys killed Pac on his own coast, Tupac got shot in Las Vegas, in his backyard ..then u guys went and crucified BiG when he came to Cali to show love............BIGGI would never , ever been shot in NY, now i am a HUGE pac fan and i was born in the early ,early 80s , so i was alive and concious thru it all but courses on the WEST........u killed ur own
February 1, 2009 10:55 PM
Anonymous said:
A story about a punk gangster making money from selling drugs, pimping girls and then becoming a rapper. Atleast that is the true story.
February 20, 2009 2:02 PM
katie said:
i cried at the end. would have liked more REAL film clips. where they showed the Real funeral procession was very touching. 5 stars by far. great movie. spoke very well about his life.
May 26, 2009 7:43 PM
NOR*CAL rydah said:
that movie made sacramento look week but here is the REAL story from BAYONTOP.COM
the dvd is really good if u happen to be a Biggie fan, it even has some of the shooting of biggie captured on film which was really sad to watch. but the high point of the film is when Biggie's homie talks about the time Big and 40 had a serious beef. Biggie had said something negative about 40 in a canadian newspaper. a little while later Biggie had a show in sactown and when they got there, there was only about 15 people there and they thought it was strange but performed anyways. while Big was performing the people in the audience were throwing coins at him. he was like "wtf"? so he left. when they got outside, the limo was there but there was no driver to be found, all of a sudden they heard lots of trunks opening and closing from cars in the parkin lot. then they heard lots of click click noises from cats chambering rounds into their handguns. they jumped into the limo and locked the doors but the car was quickly surrounded. one of Biggies homies asked one of the guys with guns if they would please call 40 on the celly so Big could holla at him and they did. Biggie and 40 talked for 5 mins and then 40 said let me speak to my lil man so Biggie handed the guy back the phone. the guy talking to 40 on the phone was pisssed and was beggin 40 to let him and his boys smoke Biggie on the spot. he was pleading with 40 for several minutes. 40 put his foot down and said to give Biggie and his folks a pass. 40 then got back on the phone with Biggie and said that he would sent 2 of his most loyal guys to escort Biggie and his crew back to the hotel and stand guard till the next day and then they would escort them to the airport to make sure they left cali in one piece just incase one of 40's homies decided to smoke em anyways. the 2 guys escorted them back to the hotel, stood watch all night and then got them safely to the airport. Biggies camp figures that 40 is the one who booked the show in the first place just to lure them out there to sactown. they said they had mad respect for 40 ever since, not only for saving their lives, but for setting them up so easily. now before ya'll start talkin **** that this story is too outlandish, straight from a godfather movie, remember, this was an interview given by one of Biggies closest friends who was in the car at the time it all went down. that really is one of the most gangsta things i've ever heard and is worth the price of the DVD alone. i made sure i checked with 40's camp before i posted this **** as i would never put **** out there even if it was already released on a dvd. the dvd is called "NOTORIOUS BIG, BIGGER THAN LIFE" cop it today.
http://www.bayontop.com/f62/e-40-biggie-smalls-incident-sac-30323/
THE END
July 31, 2009 12:28 PM