Notorious (2009)

Director:

George Tillman Jr.

Writers (WGA):

Reggie Rock Bythewood (written by) and
Cheo Hodari Coker (written by)

Release Date:

16 January 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

No dream is too big

Plot:

The life and death story of Notorious B.I.G. (a.k.a. Christopher Wallace), who came straight out of Brooklyn to take the world of rap music by storm.

Plot Keywords:

Brooklyn | Death | Crack | Rap Music | Fame

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 21	10:00 PM	MAX
Sun. Nov. 22	2:05 AM	MAX

Cast

Jamal Woolard	...	Christopher 'Biggie' Wallace
Mohamed Dione	...	Record Executive at Party
Derek Luke	...	Sean 'Puffy' Combs
Dennis L.A. White	...	Damion 'D-Roc' Butler
Marc John Jefferies	...	Lil Cease
Menyone DeVeaux	...	Hot Girl
Ginger Kroll	...	Debbie
Ricky Smith	...	Wally
Christopher Jordan Wallace	...	Biggie (age 8-13)
Amanda Christopher	...	Keisha
Angela Bassett	...	Voletta Wallace
Nina Daniels	...	Street Commentator
Jasper Briggs	...	Damion (age 8-13)
Cyrus Farmer	...	Selwyn
David Costabile	...	Mr. Webber

Also Known As:

Untitled Notorious B.I.G. Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language, some strong sexuality including dialogue, nudity, and for drug content.

Runtime:

122 min | 128 min (unrated director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Ireland:16 | UK:15 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R16 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:18 | Finland:K-15 | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB) | Netherlands:12 | USA:R (certificate #44759)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Trivia:

Sylvester Stallone was at one point rumored to be directing.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A W211 Mercedes-Benz E-Class is shown in the scene with the Corvette. The W211 wasn't put into production until 2003.

Quotes:

Lil Kim: What's up, Big Mama?
Lil Kim: What did you just call me?
Notorious B.I.G.: Big Mama. You looking damn good. How was work today?
Lil Kim: Everyday you ask me how I'm doing. What's that about?
Notorious B.I.G.: [Smiling] It's cause I care. You know what I'm saying?
Lil Kim: Yeah, right. Whatever you say, Big Poppa.
Notorious B.I.G.: [laughing] You know, you got a smart-ass mouth!
Lil Kim: What, you gonna do something about it?
[pauses, and stares B.I.G down]
Lil Kim: Nah, I didn't think so.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Chicken Run (2000)

An interesting story

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.