Notorious B.I.G.

The rapper, much like a fellow form of entertainer the clown, is a persona that relies on masking weaker aspects of character and temperament in order to fulfil their role as exactly that—a person that people will be able to relate to or find solace within. Of course, comparing a rapper directly to a painted circus act only goes so far until all attempts at providing an ample analogy wear thin. Instead, rap is an artistic movement that attempts to convey the rags-to-riches story with poetry laced over simplistic musical backings built to elicit response of an audience out to either get down or simply share in that collective stream of pathos. Yet the masks that both wear nevertheless serve the same function; while the Notorious B.I.G. would eventually become key in a movement of hip-hop stars making music through the soul rather than pure social frustration, there nevertheless remains a code of conduct or, ethic to being a rap star that overrides any form of drama within the person's life to take centre-stage. Notorious takes the mask off.

Notorious then, which takes the form of a bio-pic documenting famed star Christopher "Biggie" Wallace's rise from the gutter is an unmasking of sorts that goes beyond the gold chains, sunglasses, sleek rhymes and ultra-cool persona to reveal the man behind the music. The concept of course is as old as boots, but too often it is the case that such ventures into famed celebrity lives are either told with no care for genuine character-investment or instead play far too loosely with the facts. It's a pleasure then that Notorious which is directed by George Tillman Jr. (his first feature film since the underrated Men of Honor in 2000) does well to balance both the facts and the drama to ample effect with no neglect at all given to the music that propelled Biggie to stardom. Instead, Notorious plays out like a substantive character drama that always keeps the focus on Christopher Wallace rather than Biggie Smalls, and the result is compelling in its ability to stuff in so much material into its runtime without seeming overly abundant or superfluous. Most importantly of all however is that Tillman's effort here resonates far more emotionally than one would expect; sure, the rags-to-riches story is fast becoming a sickly cliché, but Notorious remains true to its story regardless and ends up coming out feeling genuinely compelling without resorting to mundane and transparent devices.

No doubt key to the entire productions success however, regardless of how finely constructed the screenplay may be is the performance by leading man Jamal Woolard who not only embodies Christopher Wallace to a fine point, but also nails what is demanded of him when chants of "Biggie" take form. Indeed, much of Notorious' ability to keep things flowing and feeling fresh is through such instances where the drama is interlaced with Wallace's more public persona throughout the many musical interludes that transpire as the rapper makes a name for himself. Much also has to be said for Woolard's co-stars who range from friends and family to old and new lovers, some famous, some not so famous. The result is an ensemble that do well to shine on their own grounds but never get enough screen time to detract the attention away from the man himself. Of course, this does have some detrimental effect on some elements of the script's focus (namely involving his mother who battles breast cancer) but with a runtime already clocking in at two hours with very little throwaway material therein, one can't complain too much.

In the end it's obvious that existing fans of the Notorious B.I.G, Biggie Smalls, Christopher Wallace and all around hip-hop icon will no doubt find a lot more to enjoy here than casual onlookers, but even those with an affinity for these kinds of stories will find much to invest within here. Indeed, while a large portion of Notorious details the hardships that the young rapper had to overcome on his way to the top as well as many failings along the way also, it is this honest and compelling look at those words now infamously engrained within two of rap's most esteemed records that give Notorious all the flow and pathos of Biggie's work himself. And even if you can't appreciate that, then there's the fantastic soundtrack itself, the spot-on performances and a brief history lesson on one of the music industry's brightest and short-lived stars to enjoy.

• A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

MY girlfriend and I went to see this opening night and I was a little worried about the director and first time actor Jamal Woolard but it turned out to be a great film. Now i am a Biggie fan so you may think this is biased but it was a well done movie and showed you the life of biggie and how he made it. There is a couple things that i thought were not so good about the movie like go more in depth his younger years so we learn more about him and also go deeper into the feud with him and pac. But other than that Jamal Woolard gave a great performance as well as the rest of the cast. Now my girlfriend doesn't even like rap and she liked this movie so i would suggest it to anyone. I am surprised about the bad rating but i guess people hate on the best rapper of all time too much lol

That should have been the title of the movie. Everything about this movie glorified Big..... if he was a nerdy student - he's gonna the nerdiest student.... if he was a drug dealer - he was gonna be the biggest drug dealer - complete with him sitting in a dark room with that one light that shines down on the table (classic).... if he didn't know anything about Tupac's murder - then he's gonna appear as if he was absolutely oblivious to that entire situation.... not to mention one of the supporting characters in this movie, Kim.... if Kim was gonna be a ho - she's gonna be the dirtiest ho ever.... If I didn't know any better, I would assume the only way she came up was by f'king Biggie.... This is a one-sided, shallow view of a person's life. Biggie fans want to remember his legacy flawless and that can be understood. Sure why not? This movie was made for you..... It's a story told as though a mother is speaking of her lost son who could do no wrong.....

Recommendation: Why not learn who Biggie was by beefing up the content of the supporting cast.... his first baby's momma for starters, and what about other artists that he interacted with? We could have seen a more developed, well-rounded and truthful character. Possibly even learn something about him that hasn't already been discussed in magazines or on TV....

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

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.