Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace (a.k.a. “The Notorious BIG”) was a Brooklyn street thug who rose to become one of the most successful rappers of the 1990s before being murdered at the age of 24, just months after the murder of his bitter rival and former friend, Tupac Shakur. The two tragedies remain unsolved, and were the low point in a feud between West Coast and East Coast rap communities. So when the idea came to make a movie about Biggie’s life, the people behind this film went straight to the people that knew him best to learn more about him. That means Notorious was well-researched, but you know what they say, sometimes “you can’t see the forest for the trees.”
Notorious stars Jamal Woolard as Wallace. This film is all about Biggie’s all-too-brief life. Beginning with “Biggie” being an adolescent outsider, and transitioning through a period of petty crime and drug pushing, to finally his professional ascendancy in the music world, thanks to Sean Combs (Derek Like), that later caused strife and led to his murder. Along the way, Biggie’s friendship with Combs forms and deepens, has relations with trash-talking Lil’ Kim (Naturi Naughton), and marries platinum blonde dream girl Faith Evans (Antonique Smith), and befriends the charismatic Tupac Shakur (Anthony Mackie), only to see their friendship curdle when Shakur is shot and robbed in the lobby of a Manhattan recording studio.
The majority of the films about famous people follow a tried-and-true formula. The “rags-to-riches” story of Wallace’s life presented in Notorious is pretty standard. So nothing about the plot will surprise you. Basically, Sean Combs and Wallace are presented in the best light possible. It’s not a coincidence that Sean Combs and Wallace’s mother are co-producers of this film either. The most fascinating part of Biggie’s life is really his relationship with Tupac Shakur, which eventually leads to both of their deaths. Unfortunately, there are no big risks taken when it comes to possibly tying up loose ends on who killed Biggie. Although, oddly enough, in this film Biggie does seem to right all his wrongs right before his death.
Despite the predictable story, the cast does try hard to play real-life people. Jamal Woolard has a charismatic presence on the screen. He really looks and acts just like the real “Notorious BIG”. Angela Bassett, Antonique Smith, and Naturi Naughton also give outstanding perfromances as Biggie’s mother, Faith Evans, and Lil’ Kim respectively. About the only one who doesn’t seem that inspired is surprising, Derek Luke, as Sean “Puffy Daddy” Combs. Combs is a character for sure, but he is made to look like a caricature of himself in this film. The music in Notorious is also excellent.
Every scene in Notorious has been seen and done before, and done better. The majority of the cast do try their hardest to make this film work, but in the end this is just an average film. It’s at least watchable thanks to those performances and music. But it just goes to show that the closer you are to a situation, the less you can be objective. There are some interesting stories to be told about Biggie’s life and, more importantly, his death. You just won’t find them in Notorious.
The video included is available in widescreen color presented at 2:35 aspect ratio, which is enhanced for 16:9 TVs. The quality is about average and you have come to expect from a 20th Century FOX DVD. The colors seem true to the story being told on the screen, but nothing really special here. No real problems, though.
The audio included is available in either English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, or French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound. There are subtitles available in English, Spanish, and French as well. The dialogue and music come out loud and clear, so no major problems here either. But like the video quality, the audio quality is pretty average.
Audio Commentaries –
There are two full-length audio commentaries for this film. The first is with George Tillman, Jr. (director), Reggie Rock Blythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker (screenwriters), and Dirk Westervelt (editor). This is pretty informative, but not that entertaining. The second audio commentary is with Wallace’s real mom, Voletta Wallace and Biggie’s real managers, Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts. They were also all producers on this film as well. This is just good-natured conversation focusing on the film’s relationship to the real story. Not that informative, but it is nice to hear from Mrs. Wallace, though.
“Behind the Scenes: The Making of Notorious” Featurette –
This runs 27 minutes and it’s a detailed look at the making of the picture, from the extensive casting process to the involvement of Biggie’s family and friends to the on-set operations, on down to the props and costumes. The usual stuff here.
“I’ve Got A Story To Tell: The Lyrics of Biggie Smalls” Featurette –
This runs 9 1/2 minutes and it focuses on Biggie’s music and personality, interspersing clips of the film with testimonials from friends and fans.
“Notorious Thugs: Casting The Film” Featurette –
This runs 9 minutes and it covers the casting of the supporting players with the input of many of the people they portrayed. The use of interviews and audition footage is included here.
“Biggie Boot Camp” Featurette –
This runs 7 minutes and it shows the extensive process of training the actors, particularly first-timer Woolard, to become their iconic roles. It is narrated by director Tillman.
“Anatomy of a B.I.G. Performance” Featurette –
This runs 5 minutes and it details the shooting of the concert scenes, with comparison footage of real performances. Pretty cool.
“Party & Bullshit” Featurette –
This runs 4 minutes and it’s an uncut view of one of those performances.
It’s in rough cut that even has tape glitches, among other things. But an excellent “extra” nonetheless.
“The B.I.G. Three-Sixty” Virtual Tour –
This is a viewer-controlled virtual tour of the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax, where Biggie was murdered, with the option of brief video clips explaining various points on the scene. Sad, but very interesting.
Deleted Scenes –
There are 10 scenes that didn’t make the final cut of the film and they total 12 minutes. The only interesting ones are the ones where the filmmakers apparently experimented with a parallel timeline of the night of Biggie’s death, intercut with the main narrative. The others are usual cuts that weren’t needed in the first place.
Fans of Biggie Smalls will probably want to buy this. But everyone else should rent it. Really it’s a standard “rags-to-riches” story, so it’s really not must-watch or anything. But there is a compelling story to be told here and there are moments where this film could have been great. So for any music fan, it’s worth a rental.
20th Century FOX Home Entertainment presents Notorious. Directed by George Tillman Jr. Written by Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker. Starring Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie, Antonique Smith, Naturi Naughton, Marc John Jefferies, and Christopher Jordan Wallace. Running time: 122 minutes. Rated R. Released on DVD: April 21, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
