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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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jamal Woolard reprised his role as The Notorious B.I.G. in All Eyez on Me (2017) about Tupac Shakur.

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Goofs

After Biggie records "Sky is the Limit" a view of the New York skyline appears showing the New York Times building. Construction of this building began in 2003 was completed in 2007. The scene takes place 1997.

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Quotes

Notorious B.I.G.: Ah got rhymes for The Dayz, y'know what Ahm sayin'? Ah guess Ahm tryin' to tell a story 'bout an average nigga from Brooklyn, y'know what Ahm sayin'? A nigga gotta figure out dat life shit

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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
(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

Takes the mask off.

The rapper, much like a fellow form of entertainer the clown, is a persona that relies on masking weaker aspects of character and temperament in order to fulfil their role as exactly that—a person that people will be able to relate to or find solace within. Of course, comparing a rapper directly to a painted circus act only goes so far until all attempts at providing an ample analogy wear thin. Instead, rap is an artistic movement that attempts to convey the rags-to-riches story with poetry laced over simplistic musical backings built to elicit response of an audience out to either get down or simply share in that collective stream of pathos. Yet the masks that both wear nevertheless serve the same function; while the Notorious B.I.G. would eventually become key in a movement of hip-hop stars making music through the soul rather than pure social frustration, there nevertheless remains a code of conduct or, ethic to being a rap star that overrides any form of drama within the person's life to take centre-stage. Notorious takes the mask off.

Notorious then, which takes the form of a bio-pic documenting famed star Christopher "Biggie" Wallace's rise from the gutter is an unmasking of sorts that goes beyond the gold chains, sunglasses, sleek rhymes and ultra-cool persona to reveal the man behind the music. The concept of course is as old as boots, but too often it is the case that such ventures into famed celebrity lives are either told with no care for genuine character-investment or instead play far too loosely with the facts. It's a pleasure then that Notorious which is directed by George Tillman Jr. (his first feature film since the underrated Men of Honor in 2000) does well to balance both the facts and the drama to ample effect with no neglect at all given to the music that propelled Biggie to stardom. Instead, Notorious plays out like a substantive character drama that always keeps the focus on Christopher Wallace rather than Biggie Smalls, and the result is compelling in its ability to stuff in so much material into its runtime without seeming overly abundant or superfluous. Most importantly of all however is that Tillman's effort here resonates far more emotionally than one would expect; sure, the rags-to-riches story is fast becoming a sickly cliché, but Notorious remains true to its story regardless and ends up coming out feeling genuinely compelling without resorting to mundane and transparent devices.

No doubt key to the entire productions success however, regardless of how finely constructed the screenplay may be is the performance by leading man Jamal Woolard who not only embodies Christopher Wallace to a fine point, but also nails what is demanded of him when chants of "Biggie" take form. Indeed, much of Notorious' ability to keep things flowing and feeling fresh is through such instances where the drama is interlaced with Wallace's more public persona throughout the many musical interludes that transpire as the rapper makes a name for himself. Much also has to be said for Woolard's co-stars who range from friends and family to old and new lovers, some famous, some not so famous. The result is an ensemble that do well to shine on their own grounds but never get enough screen time to detract the attention away from the man himself. Of course, this does have some detrimental effect on some elements of the script's focus (namely involving his mother who battles breast cancer) but with a runtime already clocking in at two hours with very little throwaway material therein, one can't complain too much.

In the end it's obvious that existing fans of the Notorious B.I.G, Biggie Smalls, Christopher Wallace and all around hip-hop icon will no doubt find a lot more to enjoy here than casual onlookers, but even those with an affinity for these kinds of stories will find much to invest within here. Indeed, while a large portion of Notorious details the hardships that the young rapper had to overcome on his way to the top as well as many failings along the way also, it is this honest and compelling look at those words now infamously engrained within two of rap's most esteemed records that give Notorious all the flow and pathos of Biggie's work himself. And even if you can't appreciate that, then there's the fantastic soundtrack itself, the spot-on performances and a brief history lesson on one of the music industry's brightest and short-lived stars to enjoy.

• A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Notorious B.I.G. Project

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