Biggie and Tupac (2002)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Nick Bloomfield is someone you could call a controversial filmmaker because his documentaries are usually attacked by people for a number of reasons. His style is also something that rubs a few people the wrong way and both of those things are on hand here in this documentary that takes a look at the murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious BIG. This documentary takes a look at their murders, what connection they might have to each other and what role the LAPD might have played in them.
BIGGIE AND TUPAC isn't done in the sleazy style as the director's KURT AND COURTNEY but it's certainly just as entertaining. It seems that these murders may eventually go down in history as giant mysteries but there's no question that Bloomfield tries to get to the bottom of them. This includes him going into rather bad areas to interview people and his questions are also to the point where he challenges people to answer. Considering how shady some of these people are, when you watch Bloomfield press them you can't help but feel a little tension.
The biggest thing here is that Bloomfield manages to interview Russell Poole, the LAPD Detective who basically accused the department of a major cover up and accused several people of being involved in the murder. He is interviewed here and discusses various bits of information as it applies to the murders. There's no question that his stuff is some of the best here but we also get interviews with several people who knew Tupac as well as Christopher Wallace. Wallace's own mother is also on hand here being interviewed.
BIGGIE AND TUPAC shines a light on many of the conspiracy theories out there so it's interesting to see them discussed and broken down. The documentary is certainly very entertaining and we get a lot of information on not only the murders but also the whole East Coast vs West Coast rap battle that started the whole situation.
