A male perspective
By John McSwain
Directed by George
Tillman Jr., Notorious depicts the
remarkable rise of hip hop legend Christopher Wallace (Biggie Smalls or The
Notorious B.I.G.) before his untimely death at the age of 24 in a drive-by
shooting. The film was produced by both Sean "Puffy" Combs and
Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace who assumingly wanted to make the story of
Biggie’s life as accurate as possible.
Framed by the
night of Biggie's death, the film traces his childhood as a straight-A student to
his early life as a drug dealer, jailbird and teenage father surmising with his
death.
Before his
freestyle rap tape brought him to the attention of producer Sean
"Puffy" Combs played by (Derek Luke), Biggie was an unknown rapper
who sold drugs in order to provide for his daughter. An interesting addition to
the film is that Biggie's son, Christopher Wallace played young Biggie and
Angela Bassett played his mother, which brings the story of Biggies’ journey to
life.
However, as the
film progresses the audience is introduced to Notorious them of fame and
fortune which brings its own share of problems, this includes an affair with
the rival feisty Junior M.A.F.I.A. rap group member Lil' Kim played by (Naturi
Naughton), marriage to fellow hip hop star Faith Evans played by (Antonique
Smith) and a friendship-turned-rivalry with charismatic West Coast rapper Tupac
Shakur played by (Anthony Mackie).
The Good
The reason why this movie is good is because it did a fantastic job at
imitating “the true Biggie.” The movie keeps the viewers attention and
wondering what’s going to happen next. Another good attribute about this movie
is that the actors and actress act and take on their role really well, which
makes the movie even more enjoyable for viewers and fans.
The Bad
In this movie 2-Pac was made out to be a bad guy when in reality he wasn’t. So,
for those who aren’t familiar with Biggies story will be under the impression
that 2-Pac was negative and mean.
Worth seeing
Notorious is watchable enough and
well acted but it doesn’t tell Biggie fans anything they didn't already know. The
movie is good and very informal about Biggie’s life so those who do not know
about him will definitely know him after watching this movie.
Written by: Reggie Rock Bythwood, Cheo Hodari Coker
CAST: Derek Luke, Naturi Naughton, Antonique Smith, and Athony Mackie
Running Time: 123 mins
Release Date: 1/16/09
MPAA RATING: R
The Cardinal Rating:
out of
