Notorious (2009)

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

Director:

George Tillman Jr.

Writers:

Reggie Rock Bythewood, Cheo Hodari Coker

Stars:

Jamal Woolard, Anthony Mackie, Derek Luke

9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jamal Woolard	...	Christopher 'Biggie' Wallace
Momo Dione	...	Record Executive at Party (as Mohamed Dione)
Derek Luke	...	Sean 'Puffy' Combs
Dennis L.A. White	...	Damion
Marc John Jefferies	...	Cease
Menyone DeVeaux	...	Hot Girl #1
Christopher Jordan Wallace	...	Biggie (Age 8-13)
Ricky Smith	...	Wally
Amanda Christopher	...	Keisha
Angela Bassett	...	Voletta Wallace
Jasper Briggs	...	Damion (Age 8-13)
Cyrus Farmer	...	Selwyn
David Costabile	...	Mr. Webber
Julia Pace Mitchell	...	Jan
Red Café	...	Primo (as Jermaine Denny)

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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Plot Keywords:

biopic | death | gun | shot to death | drive by shooting | 

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Taglines:

No dream is too big

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Music

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Certificate:

18A

Did You Know?

Trivia

The writer director Antwone Fisher sat across Biggie the night he died and Antwone's wife LaNette Fisher grew up 3 blocks away from Biggie's supposed killer.

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Goofs

In a brief establishing shot of Times Square, a billboard poster for "Chicken Run" can be seen. Chicken Run was released three years after Biggie died. There is also a poster for "Will & Grace" on NBC, which premiered the year after his death (1998).

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Quotes

Notorious B.I.G.: That shit just clicked. Puffy gave it the gloss. The way them sneers hitting them vocals drop, he took that track from one hundred percent to two hundred percent. They started sayin' we brought Funk back to Hip Hop. All I know is I was doing what I always did.

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Alternate Versions

The unrated cut features seven minutes of extended footage as well as an opening sequence involving the "Impala SS" killer.

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Connections

References Juice (1992)

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Soundtracks

Juicy
Written by Sean 'Diddy' Combs, The Notorious B.I.G. (as Christopher Wallace), Poke (as Jean-Claude Olivier) and James Mtume
Performed by Jamal Woolard, Derek Luke and Lamont 'Money L' Mosley
(contains a sample of "Juicy Fruit"
Performed by James Mtume (as Mtume),
Courtesy of Epic Records
By arrangement with SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT)

User Reviews

I loved it

The Movie was way better then I thought. The actors/actress in it resembled each person in everyway possible. The little kim character was on point even the way she spit those lyrics in the bedroom. According to Naturi Naughton who played the role of little kim she never rapped before but you couldn't tell the way she flowed. When she performed in that lacey outfit towards the end you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between her and kim. The biggie character played by gravy was also on point as well. The voice, build and complexion was spot on. When the faith character sung "I remember" I couldn't believe how great she sang, and it didn't look like she was lip sycn-ing at all. I really enjoyed the movie and it brought me back to those great times in college when I was hooping for Suny Farmingdale.

I was disappointed about one thing and that was the drama aspect. Nothing surprised me about it, because everything in the movie we already knew. It wasn't one thing in the movie that left anything to the imagination. It was very predictable because I already knew he sold drugs, he went to jail, then got discovered by puffy, he blew up, then he died. So probably 15 minutes into the movie I pretty much knew what would happen next. I still loved it and the music in it.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Notorious

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,497,596, 18 January 2009

Gross USA:

$36,843,682

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$44,420,167

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Voletta Wallace Films, Bystorm Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min 128 min (unrated director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1