Notorious (2009)

• Year: 2009
• Released: 16 Jan 2009
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 9 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472198/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Notorious_DIRECTORS_CUT
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/notorious
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
• Runtime: 122 min
• Writer: Reggie Rock Bythewood, Cheo Hodari Coker
• Director: George Tillman Jr.
• Cast: Jamal Woolard, Anthony Mackie, Derek Luke
• Keywords: murder, musical, death, ghetto, rap music,

	6.6/10
	60/100

Notorious Storyline

NOTORIOUS is the story of Christopher Wallace. Through raw talent and sheer determination, Wallace transforms himself from Brooklyn street hustler (once selling crack to pregnant women) to one of the greatest rappers of all time; THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. Follow his meteoric rise to fame and his refusal to succumb to expectations – redefining our notion of “The American Dream.”

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Notorious Movie Reviews

Biggie fans will love “Notorious”; everybody else, well, that’s another question entirely…

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

What a great film…..

This is a movie that I was looking forward to, until the reviews started rolling in….

Now obviously, I don’t take the critics word as the gospel truth, and more often than not, I disagree with them, but I thought the producers and directors must have messed something up, to be getting all the negative backlash.

I suppose the best way to properly start this review is by asking a question – What exactly did you want from the movie? I was expecting, and looking forward to, a dramatised portrayal of the life and times of Christopher Wallace, which is exactly what I got, and I enjoyed every minute of it, from start to finish.

Now being a long time fan of the Notorious B.I.G, may imply that this review could be biased, but I can assure you that I am, more often that not, more than ready to attack a movie and pick it apart, no matter what it is.

As someone who knows the ins and out of the story, obviously, there were some things that bothered me slightly, including the void of some key characters who played a big part in Biggie’s life, and the less than impressive casting of Tupac and Puffy’s characters. Referring to the last point, their acting was great, but on appearance, Anthony Mackie looks nothing like Shakur, and lacked the charisma and iconic presence that Pac had. Big boots to fill. I felt the same way about the actor who played Puffy.

During the east coast vs west coast segments, the movie was slightly biased towards the Bad Boy camp, but come on, this is a movie to celebrate Big’s life. It didn’t bother me at all. There are plenty of documentaries and articles for one to read, if they want a purely fact based, and raw account of the story, from both parties.

Now back to the positives. Jamal was absolutely incredible as BIG. A flawless performance.

The movie was gripping throughout, and I found myself eagerly awaiting the progression.

The acting was generally good, and the soundtrack was almost perfect, apart from one or two tracks that I would have liked to have seen/heard in the mix, but thats just personal opinion.

Now for those who are not a fan of Biggie, or Hip Hop for that matter, I would not cross this off your list yet. You won’t be overly bombarded with hardcore gangster rap songs, thuggery and street slang. Obviously, Biggie’s songs are prominent throughout, but the music is not relentless, and I’m almost sure that these guys had a wider target audience in mind when making the film. This is not a film that is just for ‘the fans’ or those on the ‘streets’.

Obviously, Big was no angel, and some of his ways, especially in his earlier life, could offend some. Certain scenes involving sex, drugs, and cheating had to be present, in order to maintain an accurate depiction of the man.

Lil Kim had a problem with the way her character was portrayed, and I can see why. I don’t know enough about her life, or her role in Big’s life to comment, so I will have to look into that someday.

We all know what happens in the end, so its no spoiler. I was a little choked. I didn’t think I would be, but I was. A sign that the crew have done their job correctly. The movie hit the right spots. Excitement, sadness, and inspiration.

The conclusion? I loved the film, and look forward to watching it again with some friends.

This is not Oscar worthy by all means, and I’m sure people will continue to nitpick away, but once again, these people really need to ask themselves what they were expecting, and what exactly they wanted from a biopic film.

8/10

Not a bad film but could have been better, coming from a disliker of rap

Am not a fan of rap music to be perfectly honest, never have been. That’s all personal opinion of course. Being raised on classical music and appreciating pop and rock music (if more older hits than the new ones) may have something to do with it, but to me rap has never felt like music. Have often found it repetitive and preachy and some rappers don’t even do it well.

Giving ‘Notorious’ a fair chance, as Charistopher “Biggie” Wallace did have an interesting life and he was/is one of the better rappers there was. His songs are pretty catchy and not as repetitive and preachy as other rap songs and he had great charisma and was good at what he did. ‘Notorious’ is not a bad film, but could have been much better, from all the mixed opinions here one can see both sides.

The best asset is Jamal Woolard, who is brilliant in the lead. He certainly did his homework and worked very hard preparing for a role that had big shoes to fill, one cannot believe he was a newcomer. Angela Bassett gives a powerful performance too and is one of the few standouts in the supporting cast.

‘Notorious’ is well filmed and lit. The music and the way it’s interpreted and staged is great and is some of the film’s most interesting content. There were a few touching moments with his short life ending in tragedy.

However there are some large problems. ‘Notorious’ tries to cover too much ground, making scenes dull and underwhelmed. The conflict between Biggie and Tupac doesn’t have anywhere near the depth it ought to have done, not getting to the root of the trouble, which if done well could have been where the film most excels. Biggie’s womanising and bling lifestyle gets awfully repetitious and resorts to every cliché in the book and a complete lack of maturity.

The film constantly feels shallow with all the characters painted in a one-sided way and nobody feel like real or fleshed out characters that one cares for. The script is stilted and underdeveloped, while the film can drag and the drama can be heavy-handed and with too many pointless scenes that add nothing. Anthony Mackie is miscast in every sense and Derek Luke is nowhere near sharp enough.

In conclusion, lacking in a lot of areas but has enough elements to make it a one-time watch, though some are likely to not have the desire to see it again. 5/10 Bethany Cox