Notorious
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Directed by: George Tillman Jr.
Starring:
Jamal Woolard - Christopher "Biggie" Wallace
Angela Bassett - Voletta Wallace
Derek Luke - Sean "Puffy" Combs
Naturi Naughton - Lil Kim
Anthony Mackie - Tupac Shakur
Antonique Smith - Faith Evans
If you're already a fan of the rapper Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls aka Christopher Wallace, then you're on board for this film. It hits all of the recommended biopic notes, takes no chances, highlights his popular songs, and makes you feel like his death was a loss but we gained so much from his short lifespan. The end. But if you're like me, only moderately aware of Smalls' music and his life, then you're left feeling unconvinced and that he gets a biopic not because of his influence, but because he was capped in a silly feud between millionaires and their record labels.
Notorious isn't quite a hagiography, but it's close. I can't help but feel like I'm getting the spin-treatment. Yes, Wallace goes to prison, but that only boosts his cred and gives him time to perfect his rhymes. Yes, he's unfaithful, but is that such a crime? And he was about to turn his life around but then he got murdered. Guess we'll never know! The film tries to end on an up-note and rush a last-minute message about how at the end of his life, Smalls had finally become a "man" but the film doesn't really convince me of that. It convinces me that he wanted to change his life but wanting and actually doing aren't the same thing.
The film does find its strength with its lead Jamal Woolard. He plays Wallace as a gentle-giant one minute but the next minute he's got a burning intensity to rival Tony Soprano. It's a great performance that manages to flourish despite its simplified characterization. Sadly, he has no one in the supporting roles backing him up. Derek Luke plays Sean Combs as the world's biggest dork (which may have been intentional), Angela Bassett is just the grounded mother who cares for her son but doesn't approve of his lifestyle, and then there's Naturi Naughton and Antonique Smith as Lil Kim and Faith Evans (respectively) and both exist solely to be beautiful and get cheated on.
Due to the abbreviated life of its subject, Notorious is biopic-lite, trying to extrapolate a larger life from a relatively short one. The lead actor finds that life but he should have told the filmmakers about it.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
1.8.09