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Notorious
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MPAA RATING: R for pervasive language, some strong sexuality including dialogue, nudity, and for drug content
Starring Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie, Antonique Smith, Naturi Naughton, Dennis White, and Julia Pace Mitchell
In just a few short years, Notorious B.I.G. rose from the streets of Brooklyn to become one of the most influential hip hop artists of all time. B.I.G. was a gifted storyteller; his narratives about violent life on the streets were told with a gritty, objective realism that won him enormous respect and credibility. His stories were universal and gave a voice to his generation. (Fox Searchlight)
| GENRE(S): | Drama |
| WRITTEN BY: |
Reggie Rock Bythewood
Cheo Hodari Coker |
| DIRECTED BY: | George Tillman Jr. |
| RELEASE DATE: | Theatrical: January 16, 2009 |
| RUNNING TIME: | minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 47 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Henry F. gave it an8:
This movie really showed me how a person with real talent can grow up in the worst situations, and still end up at the top, no matter what. 8/10 for Notorious.
Jill B. gave it an8:
The movie was wonderful the camera shoots fantastic this movie was done with care the music was great! I give it a 8 very entertaining!!!!!!
Dan A. gave it a7:
Don't listen to bullshit about people complaining that Notorious isn't "historically accurate," because they, and the majority of people don't know Biggie the way people like his mother, cousin, close friends, and associates did. All of which were integral part in making this film. They presented this film and the story from the best point of view they can, and that is exactly what Biggie went through. Notorious tells the tale of a man following the poor examples of everyone around him in the ghetto, striving to be somebody, and in his final moments where he has a grip on life, is brutally and tragically killed. A few portions of the movie suffer from some poor dialogue or just stale delivery, but it is still good. The funeral scene in particular brought tears to my eyes. The events Voletta Wallace has had to experience are truly horrific. It is blasphemy that suspects of this murder who have hard evidence against them were never brought to justice. Jamal Woolard does a spot-on job as Biggie. When you see how this man normally acts and the transformation he makes to take on this role, it is truly impressive. Angela Basset delivers a powerful performance as Big's mother, and the rest of the cast is mostly just solid talent.
Chad S. gave it a5:
For an indie-rock fan like myself, insulated from the casual scatology of gangsta rap, east coast/west coast in the early-to-mid-nineties, symbolized Chapel Hill's unsuccessful attempt to usurp Seattle as ground zero in the wake of the alternative rock explosion. Archers of Loaf's "Web in Front"("Stuck a pin in your backbone/Spoke it down from there...") should have been the scene's breakout song that challenged Kurt Cobain for his throne, and put North Carolina, front and center, in the nation's consciousness. Sad for the true believers, Eric Bachmann never was a household name, and never will be. But that's no reason to reach for your revolver and shoot Eddie Vedder, right? Watching "Notorious", it all came back to me, the sensational news report about musicians planning hits on each other like street gangs; a scenario that would seemed ludicrous, even for the equally squalid American hardcore scene. While all musical biopics sanitize their subjects, "Notorious" seems ill-fitted for the kid gloves treatment, you would think, since the appeal of Christopher Wallace's music was his song-as-documentary approach. "Notorious" doesn't keep it real. Save the sentimental scenes with his mother(Angela Bassett) for a Tyler Perry flick. Whitewashing the street out from The Notorious B.I.G.'s soul, robs his music and lyrics of its visceral tableau quality. "Notorious" demystifies gangsta rap by refuting the perception that both factions plotted the deaths of their two brightest stars. Gangsta rap, with all its violent imagery, nihilism, and misoginistic notions about women, can only be justified, as the argument is made time and time again by the genre's proponents, that it's a reflection of inner city life. If gangsta rap is not always unequivocally honest, which "Notorious" suggests, since the filmmaker absolves Wallace and his entourage from any part in Tupak Shakur's assassination, the two rap artists edge closer to being professional wrestlers, than men who talk and walk. Art imitating life is one thing, but if life is imitating an art that creates the life it purports to be imitating, then the naysayers have a point about rap being a menace to society. The novelty of a dead narrator goes all the way back to Billy Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard" when William Holden did the honors, but Shakur fans might be rankled by the B.I.G.'s VO, since the documentary "Tupac: Resurrected" used the same tactic.
T G gave it a9:
The acting was actually very good. It was surprising to me that it actually felt like a great movie that an A List Celebrity would do. Some of the actors and actresses could have done a better job but the main characters were all dead on, especially P. Diddy's depiction, with all the dancing lol.
Calvin L gave it a2:
The movie Notorious had the worse characters acting the role of the rappers, it was horrible my dad could have played tupac and the film was not detailed at all, the clips that were showed are every day clips you could catch on youtube or bet about biggie. Im a Biggie fan and it didnt make me see the name behind B.I.G. I think puff rushed this film and wouldnt recommend no one to go spend there money and time to see this movie, get on bootleg and I dont support bootleg movies It was horrible.
bryan s gave it a6:
A mixture of a hastily cut together rememberings of The Notorious and Cloverfield. Half of the movie i had no idea what was going on because the camera would be shaking so heavily you weren't sure what was going on. The movement of the film seemed like they were only bigs afterthoughts to his life. a cheesy and bad voice over job did what little progression the movie showed. in some of the later scenes you couldn't tell if it was 17 year old christopher wallace or 24 year old B.I.G. overall this movie was just above decent. Definitely not what i wanted to see about one of my favorite rappers.
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