After months of putting it off, I finally saw Notorious, the film about the late rapper Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls (and his real name, Christopher Wallace). The film is based on Cheo Hodari Coker's book Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G. which was published several years after Biggie's.

I haven't read the book, but from what I have heard, it's a really good account of his life, and based on what I saw in the movie, I'm going to guess that it's not taken word for word from the book.

Being in my late teens and early 20s when Biggie and Tupac were on top, I knew I wasn't going to like the movie because it's so hard to replicate the same feelings I felt when both Tupac and Biggie died. It's just too soon.

I remember exactly how I felt when both people died, and the movie didn't even come close to giving me those feelings. I'd compare it to the Ritchie Valens bio-pic La Bamba. Because that movie took place many years later, it was almost as if the story was new again. In this case, it's just too soon.

I'll give credit to director George Tillman Jr. and company for giving it their best. The cast is solid, though not spectacular, and you can't blame their choice for Biggie in Jamal "Gravy" Woolard. I thought he came off well in trying to replicate Biggie, but he just didn't seem like BIG. Will Smith, who is a better actor, couldn't pull off Muhammad Ali as well as we would've liked, so for a rookie like Gravy to do it would've been a once in a lifetime thing.

BIG wasn't on TV all that much and what we know of him is through videos, award show appearances, and seeing him in concerts if we were so lucky. For Smith, Ali was on TV all the time, so he had to perfect that character and though he did a solid job, it wasn't going to be nearly enough. Woolard had a chance, but in my eyes, he played him too simpe. Where was the genius?

From what I understand, a big focus of the book was that it portrayed Christopher Wallace as a regular dude. That's fine and dandy, but for the movie, a regular dude isn't going to work in this setting. From early on, Biggie's rise is seen as somewhat skill, but mostly luck.

Biggie in real life was an immense talent. Woolard's Biggie is more of a simpleton. He's a guy with a big heart who makes mistakes, but in the end, is lovable. But I ask the question again - where's the genius?

Where was all the hard work? What about the inspiration to those great rhymes? Was it only just weed and loose women? There's one point near the end of the movie where BIG tells Puff Daddy, played by Derek Luke, that he had to change up his story telling because of how his life had changed. And then when he's in the studio, he relishes in the fact that he'd done just that. But that's the only part of the movie in which we ever see the genius that surrounded him.

The cast is interesting, and again, I'm going to cut them some slack because some of these characters are simply characters in themselves that we see a lot of today and it's hard to not simply mimic. Luke's Puff Daddy consists of him doing a lot of bad Diddy dancing and not much else. There's a certain cool about Puff (that he doesn't show a lot of today) that worked back then. While he was trying to rap in videos, he also used a really soft spoken and cool approach to his business. I didn't really see that side of him in Luke's portrayal.

Naturi Naughton plays Lil' Kim and I was ok with her portrayal. Kim is simply a cartoon character these days, so Naughton could get away with playing Kim straight up. She is prettier than Kim with a nice figure that isn't fake like Kim's. I thought her portrayal as Kim was one of the better ones in the movie.

Angela Bassett's portrayal of Biggie's mom Voletta is at times touching, and at times humorous. Biggie's mom speaks with a slight Jamaican accent and in the movie, you'll hear Bassett's accent change. She can pull it off fine, but then she goes back to her normal speaking voice. Also, the relationship between Voletta and Christopher/Biggie could've been played up much bigger than it really was.

I think that in order to do this type of movie right, you have to focus on a few key relationships rather than try to fit the entire Biggie timeline in. Because they went through his stardom so quickly, you didn't really get an idea of how big he was. It went directly from success of his first album to the Tupac (played by Anthony Mackie) feud, and then quickly there after, to Pac's death. In order for those things to stick, they have to be built up. It was like as if Biggie's life was just in fast forward.

I honestly think there will be a movie done about Tupac's relationship with Biggie in the future. That relationship is the most interesting part of this movie, and you want to see more about the two and more about their fallout. Their relationship is just there, and it's quickly gone after an incident that is the climax of the movie. Those who know the story know what I'm talking about.

Was Biggie Smalls the type of historical figure that Ray Charles was? No, the longevity wasn't there, which is why this movie shouldn't have been made for at least another ten years. We miss him, but he's still too fresh in our minds. I don't want the happy go lucky Biggie. I want the hustler genius Biggie who went from ashy to classy.

You may enjoy the movie, and possibly more so if you don't know the story, but it's a bit underwhelming and I imagine we'll see another one down the line that is sure to be better.





Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age