Notorious (2009) Reviews

• Looks good and covers a lot of ground but doesn't work as a dramatic film

  bob the moo2009-04-12

  The opinion on IMDb on this film seems to be pretty split and the reason appears to be because many are not writing their opinions of the film so much as they are reviewing Biggie and/or hip-hop itself. So the unquestioning 10* reviews rave about the man and his music, while the 1* reviews talk more about the aspects of the music and culture he represents than they do about the film. I was curious to see what the film was like on its own merits so I made an effort to see it recently. The truth of the matter that the film is "ok" but not anything more than that – and I say that as a hip-hop listener who likes more east coast than west coast. The problem with the film is that it is far to driven by ticking boxes of people and events. As a result it doesn't flow so much as it does introduce people and things in a way that the audience will recognise. This is all well and good but it breaks up the film as a dramatic piece – for example with Lil' Kim, she is not allowed to just be part of the story, no, when she is introduced we even get a shot of her name badge so we can all be sure from the start as to who she is. It is like this with events as well, and the dialogue is surprisingly expositional in its nature with far too many characters seemed to be talking just for the sake of filling in blanks or moving to the next scene. As a sort of summary of Biggie's career this is fine I suppose but when it comes to caring about the characters then it does hurt it quite bad. Not that the film is overly concerned with the characters because the events-driven script doesn't really have any. Before anyone messages me with insults, I can see that there are physically people on the screen there, doing and saying things as these people, but in terms of character development and depth there is none. Nobody ever feels real – partly because of the dialogue but also because the material doesn't give anybody room to develop. This is best seen in the "second-tier" characters such as Puffy and the many women in Biggie's life but it comes over differently with Biggie himself. Contrary to his musical personae, the film does not play up the negative side of Biggie's life too much. It cannot completely hide it though and we do get lots of infidelity and things like him happily selling crack to a pregnant woman. However all of these things tend to be deliberately cancelled out later on in some daft and unnecessary scenes. For example we get to see the crack user years later, fine and playing with her child (also fine) and of course much is put right by conversations, commitments and phone calls on the night that he gets killed. Such things damage the film further as both a record and as a dramatic film – I didn't want "warts & all" but an edge of realism and criticism (where warranted) would have been good. It might be them or it might be the material but either way, the cast are not that great. Woolard does a solid impersonation of Biggie and deal well with the material but he has nowhere to go with his character other than the specifics of the scene – there is not a man inside his performance so much as an image of a man. Luke and Bassett are both very talented actors but neither gets to showcase that here – indeed Luke is only memorable for how well he nails Puffy's dancing style. Naughton's Lil Kim sticks in the mind for reasons other than her performance (although again as an impression it is good enough for here). Smith, Ringgold, Mackie and others just do the basics as the film gives them no other options. The end result is a film that looks good and covers a lot of ground but doesn't work as a dramatic film. The people and events are there but they are only ever names and things that happen – never real people or events that come from the story. The cast turn in solid but not that good performances accordingly but nobody can raise it beyond what it is. Not "bad" generally but just really lacking over what I would have expected from a biopic.

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• Sick of people writing things that make no sense !

  cleon1-22009-01-18

  First off, I went to see this movie, just left as a matter of fact and I think the movie was very well done. For the people saying that the movie was anti-climatic, what was the climax supposed to be ? We all know how it ends, or should they have added more to the story for dramatic effect so we could then talk about how fake it was, and how it didn't really happen that way ? They told it the way it happened It seems that many people are forgetting that this was a movie about someone's life, not somethingfabricated or concocted simply for the purpose of entertainment. It is supposed to tell a story,his story and if you are a true fan of B.I.G. then that should be the reason you went to see it. What good would that have done to his legacy to fill the movie up with speculation about who did what, if anything it just would have reignited the war between east and west for trying to implicate people in the shooting. The purpose was to show that behind the persona of Big Poppa was a real person, a person that loved and was loved by many people. Honestly its silly to be upset about the fact that it doesn't tell you who shot Pac, or B.I.G.,why diminish from the memory of either by using Biggie's life story to speculate on something that no one but those responsible, knows the answer to ? Also Pac, though I am a huge fan of his music as well, is just a supporting character, this movie wasn't about him, it was about Christopher Wallace, the man, the son, the father and the husband. I get sick of people making comments with no basis or foundation. Of cours things are going to be left out, it's inevitable,seeing as how you can't fit 24 years of someone's life into 2 hours of film, they put in the parts that were relevant to the story of how he came up, his brief career which introduced him to us all, and his tragic ending. I for one was touched, I bobbed my head, I laughed, I reminisced and I cried, and for 1 movie to evoke that many emotions, I say it's a job well done. I for one think B.I.G would be proud, so if you are one of those people that don't even like rap music, then here's some advice:don't even post a comment, better yet don't go see the movie, keep your negative comments to yourself. For those that loved B.I.G he was special to us, and deserving of his story being told just like anybody else who has left us and had their story touch our lives. He left a void, and hip-hop hasn't been the same since he left us. I loved the movie, and would gladly pay my $6.50 to see it again.

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• Never was a fan until now

  jessmix2009-01-19

  Back in the 90's as a teen, I never really got in to Biggie's music or lyrics. I never knew the correlation between he and all these artists like "Puff Daddy" Faith Evans, Lil Kim all came up together. I never understood how the East Coast West Coast feud got started. This film gave me a new respect for Christopher Wallace. His intelligence and how he tied that in to his passion for music and lyrics. He had a dream as a child and in the end he achieved that dream of not just becoming a success as a performer, but a success as a father to his children, a good son to his mom, and a good man to himself. I love that line in the move "If you wanna change the world, First you've got to change yourself" Inspirational film, even if you're not a fan of his music or hip hop, you can still appreciate the story behind this man.

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• A movie for Biggie fans

  sofiadesigns2009-01-27

  That should have been the title of the movie. Everything about this movie glorified Big..... if he was a nerdy student - he's gonna the nerdiest student.... if he was a drug dealer - he was gonna be the biggest drug dealer - complete with him sitting in a dark room with that one light that shines down on the table (classic).... if he didn't know anything about Tupac's murder - then he's gonna appear as if he was absolutely oblivious to that entire situation.... not to mention one of the supporting characters in this movie, Kim.... if Kim was gonna be a ho - she's gonna be the dirtiest ho ever.... If I didn't know any better, I would assume the only way she came up was by f'king Biggie.... This is a one-sided, shallow view of a person's life. Biggie fans want to remember his legacy flawless and that can be understood. Sure why not? This movie was made for you..... It's a story told as though a mother is speaking of her lost son who could do no wrong..... Recommendation: Why not learn who Biggie was by beefing up the content of the supporting cast.... his first baby's momma for starters, and what about other artists that he interacted with? We could have seen a more developed, well-rounded and truthful character. Possibly even learn something about him that hasn't already been discussed in magazines or on TV....

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• By the Numbers Hagiography

  Turfseer2009-01-30

  'Notorious' is the story of Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls who became one of the most popular rap artists in the 1990s until he was gun downed at the very young age of 24. Biggie is played by newcomer Jamal Woolard who does a decent job playing Wallace, considering he never acted before. The first 45 minutes of the film are the most interesting as it focuses on Biggie's early career as a drug dealer. He's constantly arguing with his mother (played by the always solid Angela Bassett) who finally throws him out of the house after he won't give up his drug-dealing ways. Eventually he lands in jail where he starts writing rap lyrics which he eventually fashions into full-fledged songs in the recording studio. The era is ably recreated as we're given a sense of how rap music developed during the 1980s and early 90s. After his release from jail, Biggie starts building a reputation as a talented rapper in his Brooklyn neighborhood. He becomes a protégé of up and coming producer Sean "Puffy" Combs (one of the producers of the movie) who takes him under his wing. When Puffy is fired, Biggie goes back to drug-dealing only to find himself arrested again. This time however, a friend offers to take the rap on a gun charge and Biggie has a second chance to resume his career. The rest of the movie chronicles Biggie's eventual rise to the top. I was a little uncertain as to how Biggie actually got there. At one point he's 'paying his dues' playing college gigs at places like Howard University. The next thing you know he's got a number one hit record. If one is to believe the screenwriters, despite Biggie's involvement in the violent world of rap music, he was really a big Teddy Bear at heart. He's a character who can basically do no wrong. Even though he cheats on the three women he's closest to (the mother of his child, his wife and Lil Kim, fellow rap artist and lover), they all forgive this Teddy Bear despite his boorish behavior. Notorious lacks a central external antagonist who Biggie is pitted against throughout the movie. If there is an antagonist, it's got to be Tupac Shakur, the West Coast rapper who had a falling out with Biggie after he was shot outside a NYC recording studio. There are few dramatic scenes between Biggie and Tupac in Notorious and the relationship is mainly fleshed out through the use of an off-screen narrator. While Biggie admires Tupac as a philosopher and activist, he also perceives him as a loose cannon. According to Biggie's version, after Tupac was shot for the first time, he became completely paranoid and believed everyone was after him (including Biggie). As Biggie tells it, he made attempts to reconcile with Tupac but it never really worked out. Meanwhile the media played up the "East Coast-West Coast rivalry" which may have eventually led to the assassination of both Tupac and Biggie. The 'rivalry' is explained through a montage sequence which made me feel I was watching a documentary and not a feature film. The second half of Notorious mainly involves Biggie's internal struggles, particularly in the area of becoming a more responsible adult. Again, if you believe the screenwriters, despite acting irresponsibly with women and immersing himself in the thuggish, materialistic world of rap music (an involvement in a world which eventually led to his death), Biggie managed to stay 'above the fray'. The point is made that his second (and last) album revealed a more 'sensitive' side and that he was turning away from violence right before he died. One gets a feeling that the writers of Notorious have little information as to Biggie's dealings in his behind the scenes business world. Certainly they offer no theories as to who did him in. Instead, we're treated to all the histrionics of his volatile relationships with women (which basically proves that he was a 'ladies man' and nothing much else). By focusing mainly on his relations with women, we only get to see one side of Biggie and I didn't feel this was a complete, rounded picture. Probably the weakest character in the film is Puffy Combs. Since he's one of the film's producers, it's not in his interest to suggest anything controversial about his own character. Thus, Derek Luke has little to do in this film except act the part of a glorified cheerleader. Notorious touches on all the bases of Christopher Wallace's life. For those unfamiliar with all the details, it's a modestly interesting and somewhat entertaining story. Nonetheless, the filmmakers chose to place their protagonist on a pedestal. By doing so, they imply that Biggie was detached from the violent world which he was a part of. That somehow he was an unsuspecting victim who had nothing to do with his own demise. The truth was probably somewhere in the middle—that at times he could be Biggie the Teddy Bear and at other times, Biggie the Thug. Instead of a hagiography, Notorious needed to present more of a balanced portrait but it settled for an excessively sentimental and by the numbers treatment which earns it an average "5" in my book.

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