Notorious

When a musician reaches a certain level of fame in their career, many companies will seize on the opportunity to cash in. One of these ways is through a film biopic of their life, which gives old and new fans a chance to explore the depths of their idols and see a more interesting side of them that they hadn't previously been aware of. Notorious (based on the life of rapper Notorious B.I.G) is one such example, and while it is an enjoyable and compelling piece, it is perhaps more suited to the rapper's new fans rather than his die- hard ones.

The story focuses on the life of Biggie Smalls (AKA the Notorious B.I.G) from his early beginnings as a New York drug dealer to his early success when he signs on to Bad Boy Records to his personal relationships later in life to his untimely death by an unknown assailant. The story is one of the film's major problems, as while it goes over his life's important events, it often just skims through them, without going into much depth. The most detail the film goes into about his life is his womanising. It's surprising that the film has been called hagiographic, as it does show the ugly side of this, as he is very passive about it, eventually cheating on his wife because of it, who (quite rightly) throws him out of their house, and it gives both the film and its title character the conflict that it otherwise lacks, and is the most engaging part of the film because of it.

The rest of the film is more standard, as it shows us many of his life's highlights in brief portions, which while interesting to those who may not be familiar with the rapper, isn't as exciting if you already know the story. It also doesn't help that the film clearly alters history for its own ends. Bad Boy Record head Puff Daddy (who also produces the film) is suspiciously portrayed more hagiographically than BIG himself, many of BIG's problems aren't perhaps as accurately as they should be (i.e. the drug dealing and firearms charges aren't as severe as they would be in reality) and you can't help that the film has a overtly negative view of the West Coast rap scene, mainly that of Suge Knight & Tupac Shukar, leading to many set-pieces (mainly one which describes why Tupac turned on Biggie) that even those who have reservations towards Suge and Tupac (I have my own) won't buy.

The film still manages to be quite an enjoyable ride though, as the pacing is good and a lot of the acting is great, particularly that of Jamal Woolard as the title character. Apparently he put a lot of preparation into the role (i.e. learning the songs word perfect, researching his character), and it clearly shows, and fits perfectly into the role because of it, and brings more appreciation and depth to the rapper than the film itself. All the other actors are pretty good too, with the exception of Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shukar, who while good, doesn't bother to attempt to look (only bearing the slightest resemblance) or sound like Tupac, something even more distracting considering Jamal's accuracy to his role or how one of Tupac's songs plays on the radio at one point, making the differences even more obvious.

However, despite its faults, Notorious isn't an overall bad film. It's just a very flawed biopic that is worth watching, but mainly for those who are unfamiliar with the subject, as it gives the viewer the basic facts about the star, to perhaps create new fans in the process who will look more in-depth afterwards. But for those who are die-hard fans, the film is still pretty good for what it is. Perhaps it doesn't go into as much depth as one likes, and certain details about the film have either been altered or fabricated, but it is still an entertaining, engaging and perfectly watchable film that is occasionally very detailed and you'll be treated to some fine acting, especially from Jamal Woolard who was clearly born to play the Notorious B.I.G, and it also has the very upbeat and positive message of following your dreams. It's quite good overall and is worth watching, but it may still take a while for the definitive story of the Notorious B.I.G to be made, even though this is a good first stab. Just don't confuse this for the Hitchcock one.

George Tillman Jr.'s "Notorious," a by-the-numbers biopic about the life of Brooklyn rapper Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace (1972-1997), is sure to only please the members of his core fan-base, myself amongst one of them. I was 11 in March 1997 when Biggie Smalls was shot and killed in Los Angeles, California, just seven months after his friend and fellow rap artist Tupac Shakur (1971-1996) was shot and killed in Las Vegas; Tupac died the day after my 11th birthday in 1996.

Many thought that their murders were part of the whole East Coast/West Coast rivalry between rap artists during the mid '90s. Both Big and Tupac became the unlikely martyrs of gangsta rap and the violence that characterizes it. What's most shameful about that is that over a decade after their deaths, it seems that the hip-hop community has yet to learn a very valuable lesson.

But I'm getting off-track. "Notorious" is a well-made and well-acted movie. Unfortunately, however, it's too by-the-numbers and follows the tried-and-true methods of most biopic storytelling: it glamorizes the life of the character, goes from one success to another, and doesn't really shed anything new on the person the movie is about. Of course it traces the beginnings of Biggie's life, from growing up as a bright Catholic school student in Brooklyn raised by his loving mother Voletta Wallace (a perfectly cast Angela Bassett), to his dropping out of school at age 17 to sell crack on the streets to help feed his baby daughter, and his eventual being signed to the then-newly formed Bad Boy Records by his best friend Sean "Puffy" Combs (Derek Luke). The rest, as they say, is history.

I also forgot to mention that Jamal Woolard, as Biggie, who is also an aspiring rapper himself, is probably the best thing about this movie. He really captures the essence, and character of Big, and not only does he look like him, but he also talks AND sounds like him. And his skills on the microphone are undeniable as well. He lends some authenticity to the film's rhyming sessions, rapping to the songs of the real-life Notorious B.I.G., and he pulls it off magnificently. It's a star-making performance that unfortunately gets overshadowed by too many of the film's flaws.

The script (co-authored by Biggie's biographer Cheo Hodari Coker) skips from one success to another; that's the biggest problem with most biopics. Another problem I had was that the portrait of the main character was pretty one-sided. While I personally consider his debut record "Ready to Die" to be one of the most important and significant rap albums ever recorded - it helped return the East Coast rap scene to prominence - I'm not totally certain that he was truly one of the greatest rap artists who ever lived, especially after only two finished recordings. And I really would have liked to have seen more of Big's friendship with Tupac Shakur (Anthony Mackie), which I felt was one of the most overlooked and tragic aspects of his life during the East Coast/West Coast rivalries. (People often forget that not only were they friends early on, but they were very close friends.)

And while I'm quite certain that the sex appeal of Lil' Kim (Naturi Naughton) is one of the reasons for her success as a rapper, I also feel that one of the reasons she's here, apparently, is to show A LOT of skin and seem like the biggest, baddest 'ho in hip-hop (that's debatable). Big's relationship with wife Faith Evans (Antonique Smith) was not all that well-developed either, as was Big's friendship with Puffy, or the members of Junior M.A.F.I.A., who he helped to promote along with Lil' Kim, whom he was carrying on an affair with while still married to Faith. I also would have liked to have seen some of the paranoia and fear that gripped Biggie in the final months of his life as well, and a little bit more on the aftermath of his murder.

Like I said earlier, I'm a fan of the Notorious B.I.G. myself, and so I'm sure that I'm one of those people that would have liked "Notorious" a lot more. That's the biggest tragedy about his life and this film. His short life and violent death made him one of the most important, and tragic, figures in hip-hop. I also think it's a disgrace that not much has been done by law enforcement officials to try to solve his murder, or Tupac's for that matter, and the questions revolving around the involvement of corrupt police officers in both killings have yet to be followed up in any significant fashion by anyone.

I'm not going to be a cliché: I don't think he was one of the greatest rappers, personally, but the impact of his music on the industry cannot be denied by anyone: he helped the East Coast's rise back to the top of the rap scene in the mid '90s. As for the movie about his life, on the hand, it could have been better - a lot better.

7/10

The Movie was way better then I thought. The actors/actress in it resembled each person in everyway possible. The little kim character was on point even the way she spit those lyrics in the bedroom. According to Naturi Naughton who played the role of little kim she never rapped before but you couldn't tell the way she flowed. When she performed in that lacey outfit towards the end you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between her and kim. The biggie character played by gravy was also on point as well. The voice, build and complexion was spot on. When the faith character sung "I remember" I couldn't believe how great she sang, and it didn't look like she was lip sycn-ing at all. I really enjoyed the movie and it brought me back to those great times in college when I was hooping for Suny Farmingdale.

I was disappointed about one thing and that was the drama aspect. Nothing surprised me about it, because everything in the movie we already knew. It wasn't one thing in the movie that left anything to the imagination. It was very predictable because I already knew he sold drugs, he went to jail, then got discovered by puffy, he blew up, then he died. So probably 15 minutes into the movie I pretty much knew what would happen next. I still loved it and the music in it.

The opinion on IMDb on this film seems to be pretty split and the reason appears to be because many are not writing their opinions of the film so much as they are reviewing Biggie and/or hip-hop itself. So the unquestioning 10* reviews rave about the man and his music, while the 1* reviews talk more about the aspects of the music and culture he represents than they do about the film. I was curious to see what the film was like on its own merits so I made an effort to see it recently. The truth of the matter that the film is "ok" but not anything more than that – and I say that as a hip-hop listener who likes more east coast than west coast.

The problem with the film is that it is far to driven by ticking boxes of people and events. As a result it doesn't flow so much as it does introduce people and things in a way that the audience will recognise. This is all well and good but it breaks up the film as a dramatic piece – for example with Lil' Kim, she is not allowed to just be part of the story, no, when she is introduced we even get a shot of her name badge so we can all be sure from the start as to who she is. It is like this with events as well, and the dialogue is surprisingly expositional in its nature with far too many characters seemed to be talking just for the sake of filling in blanks or moving to the next scene. As a sort of summary of Biggie's career this is fine I suppose but when it comes to caring about the characters then it does hurt it quite bad.

Not that the film is overly concerned with the characters because the events-driven script doesn't really have any. Before anyone messages me with insults, I can see that there are physically people on the screen there, doing and saying things as these people, but in terms of character development and depth there is none. Nobody ever feels real – partly because of the dialogue but also because the material doesn't give anybody room to develop. This is best seen in the "second-tier" characters such as Puffy and the many women in Biggie's life but it comes over differently with Biggie himself. Contrary to his musical personae, the film does not play up the negative side of Biggie's life too much. It cannot completely hide it though and we do get lots of infidelity and things like him happily selling crack to a pregnant woman. However all of these things tend to be deliberately cancelled out later on in some daft and unnecessary scenes. For example we get to see the crack user years later, fine and playing with her child (also fine) and of course much is put right by conversations, commitments and phone calls on the night that he gets killed. Such things damage the film further as both a record and as a dramatic film – I didn't want "warts & all" but an edge of realism and criticism (where warranted) would have been good.

It might be them or it might be the material but either way, the cast are not that great. Woolard does a solid impersonation of Biggie and deal well with the material but he has nowhere to go with his character other than the specifics of the scene – there is not a man inside his performance so much as an image of a man. Luke and Bassett are both very talented actors but neither gets to showcase that here – indeed Luke is only memorable for how well he nails Puffy's dancing style. Naughton's Lil Kim sticks in the mind for reasons other than her performance (although again as an impression it is good enough for here). Smith, Ringgold, Mackie and others just do the basics as the film gives them no other options.

The end result is a film that looks good and covers a lot of ground but doesn't work as a dramatic film. The people and events are there but they are only ever names and things that happen – never real people or events that come from the story. The cast turn in solid but not that good performances accordingly but nobody can raise it beyond what it is. Not "bad" generally but just really lacking over what I would have expected from a biopic.

I watched this movie with great expectation. Besides the hype surrounding it, for someone who embraced hip hop for many years being influenced by the like of Biggie Smalls, Nas & Tupac to mention a few, it only made sense for me to want to watch this movie.

From the beginning i could not seem to get over the way in which B.I.G was portrayed as this smart, lovable young boy because it made me look at him in a whole different light that i initially thought. I feel his son played the part well (though he did not have much to do). The story line is pretty straight forward and there are a few surprises concerning the emotions the characters invoke in you and make you understand them more deeply. The acting was not bad, i actually like the guy who acted as Biggie, he made the character quite interesting and lovable. The rest of the cast were not too bad either: Puffy, Faith Evans and the guy who played Biggie's manager were good too (don't expect any Oscar winners though!)

From a neutral point of view (without being a Notorious B.I.G or Tupac fan) i really felt that they tried to explain the beef between the artists with a more lenient view of Biggie. When watching the movie i couldn't help but think how much Biggie was the 'bigger man' in the beef and that Tupac simply caught a fit at the wrong people. Then i had to ask myself a few questions about that. The movie makes you want to take Biggie's side on the whole issue. I don't know if this is true but i felt that it was rather unfair no matter how much of a nice guy Biggie was. In watching this movie its hard to see it any other way than that the beef was Tupac's fault. It's up to you to believe it or not.

All in all it was a good effort, nothing too memorable but a story worth knowing especially if you want to know more about some of the most critical times in Hip Hop. Biggie fans will undoubtedly love this.