Notorious

Plot synopsis:
The film begins on March 8,1997 in L.A. with a party playing the popular song Hypnotize (The Notorious B.I.G. song)|Hypnotize. Biggie is seen sitting at his chair smoking a cigar, as dancers, including Faith Evans and Puff Daddy dance. Biggie, Puff Daddy, and his other friends are driving. They stop at a red light and while the guys are flirting with the girls outside. A black Chevy Impala pulls up and fires several shots at Biggie.The film then flashes back through many scenes all the way to 1983 showing Biggie as a kid. Biggie writes several songs, as he's made fun of by some school girls. Soon Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace comes back to face with Biggie's father, who left when he was a child. There's a fight that Biggie witnesses and continues to listen to his music. Biggie soon starts "hustling" and being involved with drugs.Then in 1990, when Biggie is seventeen, he and his friend D-Roc (Dennis L.A. White) start to hustle with friend Lil Cease. Biggie wins a rap compeition on the streets and sees a beautiful girl named Lil Kim. After leaving the battle Voletta becomes aware of Biggie's drug dealing and kicks him out onto the street, where he finds his own place and starts getting money.Biggie finds himself in prison for 2 or 3 years.He is then released from prison and he goes to see Janet, his girlfriend and their new daughter. Biggie's mom has forgiven him for what he has done. After making up with his mother he goes to find D-Roc and Lil Cease and other friends and records a demo called "Microphone Murder."Biggie soon meets Puff Daddy, an ambitious producer for Uptown Records. Puff Daddy promises Biggie that he'll become a millionaire and that a record deal is right around the corner for him. Also, Biggie meets up with Lil Kim and begins a relationship.A few days later Biggie meets up with D-Roc and is caught with drugs by a nearby cop. Two police cars chase after Biggie and D-Roc. As they run Biggie throws his pistol into a nearby bush. Eventually they both get caught and are interviewed by a cop, who says that one of them must go away for carrying an illegal firearm. D-Roc takes the fall saying that Biggie has a chance in the rap game and if someone like him can make it then they can all make it.Puff Daddy soon reveals to Biggie that he got fired, but tells Biggie that some time soon he'll get a record deal. Later, Voletta reveals she has breast cancer and Biggie struggles with his life all around him. As the days go by Puff Daddy begins his own record label, Bad Boy Records.Biggie starts recording songs for his new album after he gets paid his first check by Puff Daddy after a small party. Biggie records for his first album. He gets down his supposed first single, but Puff Daddy refuses saying there's another track that Biggie can record. The track is called Juicy (The Notorious B.I.G. song)|Juicy. Biggie's friend laugh at it, but Biggie eventually records the first single and they actually enjoy it.At a photoshoot Biggie meets Faith Evans. They begin a relationship, even though Faith Evans has a kid named China. Then they get married 9 days later. Meanwhile, Biggie continues to ignore his relationship with Janet and their child together.Biggie begins a friendship with Tupac Shakur, who is already a big rapper and music star. Biggie celebrates for his album Ready To Die with Tupac and actually looks up at him. Ready To Die does amazing for fans. As this goes on Janet visit Faith Evans and ask her is Biggie is home and to tell him that to visit his daughter once in a while. And Faith is disappointed that Biggie hasn't seen his kid. Driven by this Faith Evans goes to check on Biggie and sees him with another woman. Faith Evans punches the girl and leaves Biggie in disgust.Biggie goes to the studio to find Puff Daddy and Faith Evans recording. Faith forgives Biggie and they make up. As this continues, tensions between Biggie, Faith and Lil Kim continue to grow.Things change suddenly when Tupac is shot in Quad Studios and full blaims it on Puff Daddy, Biggie and Bad Boy Records. At The Source Awards in 1995, Death Row Records' Suge Knight makes a speech dissing Puff Daddy and Bad Boy Records, claiming Death Row is the place to be. Soon the disagreement has escalated into a east vs west beef and attacks are made on both sides. The friendship between Biggie and Tupac is crushed. Tupac meets up with Biggie and verbally fights him, but decides to leave when Biggie's security pulls out a pistol. This whole thing is bringing down Biggie and making him clueless about what to do next.A track is leaked called "Who Shot Ya?" which claims to diss Tupac. The streets heat up and continue to pick sides. Biggie and Puff claim that Who Shot Ya? was recorded before any of this happened, but Suge Knight and Tupac claim otherwise.Biggie is walking out of his house one day to see Lil Cease with a magazine with Tupac and Faith Evans hugging each other. Biggie becomes a completely different person as he interrupts an interview with Faith Evans and a local news station and starts to run after Faith, until she hides from Biggie and Biggie is forced to go away by one of his managers, Mark.Biggie soon meets up with Faith, who is packing ready to leave. Faith says that Tupac and her met at the House of Blues and simply took a picture. Biggie tries to make Faith laugh, but it isn't enough and tensions grow between them.Fights continue, until in 1996 Tupac is shot in Las Vegas with Suge Knight in the car with him. Tupac dies and is seen in the papers by Biggie and Lil Cease. Biggie calls his mother, Voletta to consult. Voletta claims that Tupac's mother is brave and says that he probably died because of their arguements.Biggie has trouble handling with Tupac's death. He didn't expect it and no one did. On top of everything he has relationship problems with Faith Evans, Janet and Lil Kim. Biggie starts to clean everything up by meeting with Janet and his first kid more and more often.Biggie and Lil Cease are driving one day when they crash in the car, forcing Biggie to have a cane for the rest of his life. While in hospital, Biggie is met by D-Roc, who has just been released from prison. Biggie, D-Roc and Lil Cease all reunite as Biggie decides to go to LA to promote for his upcoming album Life After Death.Biggie, Lil Cease, D-Roc, Puff Daddy and Faith Evans all go to Los Angeles for promotion. Biggie gets death threats on Lil Cease's phone several times. That night Biggie is in the back of an award show and complains about the size of his shoes. Puff Daddy calms him down. Biggie reveals that Faith Evans is pregnant with a boy, CJ.Before leaving Biggie calls Lil' Kim and appologizes and tells her he would like to talk when he gets back, Biggie then leaves the award show in an SUV, with Puff Daddy in the other van. At an intersection another car pulls up and fires into their vehical. Biggie is shot several times and is mortally injured. A few days later Voletta, Puff Daddy, Lil Cease, D-Roc, Lil' Kim, Faith Evans and others all grieve over the death of Biggie at the funeral. In a black limo Voletta leaves. Fans everywhere are shouting. As Voletta leaves she hears her boy's voice. Overwhelmed with the bittersweet moment she sees hears a nearby boy is playing B.I.G.'s debut single "Juicy". This is so sad I want to cry to my mommy.

Tags: murder, flashback

Review:
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.
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..
Besides the hype surrounding it, for someone who embraced hip hop for many years being influenced by the like of Biggie Smalls, Nas & Tupac to mention a few, it only made sense for me to want to watch this movie.From the beginning i could not seem to get over the way in which B.I.G was portrayed as this smart, lovable young boy because it made me look at him in a whole different light that i initially thought.
The rest of the cast were not too bad either: Puffy, Faith Evans and the guy who played Biggie's manager were good too (don't expect any Oscar winners though!) From a neutral point of view (without being a Notorious B.I.G or Tupac fan) i really felt that they tried to explain the beef between the artists with a more lenient view of Biggie.
It's up to you to believe it or not.All in all it was a good effort, nothing too memorable but a story worth knowing especially if you want to know more about some of the most critical times in Hip Hop. Biggie fans will undoubtedly love this..
Of course it traces the beginnings of Biggie's life, from growing up as a bright Catholic school student in Brooklyn raised by his loving mother Voletta Wallace (a perfectly cast Angela Bassett), to his dropping out of school at age 17 to sell crack on the streets to help feed his baby daughter, and his eventual being signed to the then-newly formed Bad Boy Records by his best friend Sean "Puffy" Combs (Derek Luke).
For that, Mackie should not be invited back to the hip hop movie world.Lil Kim, played by Naturi Naughton (the girl who got kicked out of 3LW), was acted out beautifully, but the actual character was written a little over the top.The biggest flaw of all is the fact that the movie had no interpretation and no real drama.
Instead, Notorious plays out like a substantive character drama that always keeps the focus on Christopher Wallace rather than Biggie Smalls, and the result is compelling in its ability to stuff in so much material into its runtime without seeming overly abundant or superfluous.
Most importantly of all however is that Tillman's effort here resonates far more emotionally than one would expect; sure, the rags-to-riches story is fast becoming a sickly cliché, but Notorious remains true to its story regardless and ends up coming out feeling genuinely compelling without resorting to mundane and transparent devices.No doubt key to the entire productions success however, regardless of how finely constructed the screenplay may be is the performance by leading man Jamal Woolard who not only embodies Christopher Wallace to a fine point, but also nails what is demanded of him when chants of "Biggie" take form.
Of course, this does have some detrimental effect on some elements of the script's focus (namely involving his mother who battles breast cancer) but with a runtime already clocking in at two hours with very little throwaway material therein, one can't complain too much.In the end it's obvious that existing fans of the Notorious B.I.G, Biggie Smalls, Christopher Wallace and all around hip-hop icon will no doubt find a lot more to enjoy here than casual onlookers, but even those with an affinity for these kinds of stories will find much to invest within here.
I didn't know anything about his music or his life.What really made me like this movie was the way the writing, directing, and acting helped bring the character and his story to life.
The movie went into a lot of depth about Wallace's upbringing in Brooklyn, about his mother, his absentee father, the neighborhood influences, his slide into the "Thug Life" of violence, drug dealing, and prison, all of which contributed to his development as an acclaimed rapper.I really enjoyed how his entertainment career development interacted with Lil' Kim, Puff Daddy, Tupac, and all of the others.Many people will be turned off by how this movie seems to glorify violence, objectifies women, and accepts the baser and more coarse aspects of inner city Black culture.
Unless you were a close friend, classmate, neighbor, relative, or business associate of Christopher Wallace, you would never know the REAL "Biggie Smalls." You knew Biggie Smalls the "media creation" and marketing product of Bad Boy Records.I think this movie gives the indifferent B.I.G. fan another side of his personality.
Derek Luke was entertaining at time, Angela Bassett did her normal "concerned mother in the hood" role, and Naturi Naughton gave a balanced performance as X-rated lyricist Lil Kim.But this is Woolard's movie.
Notorious (based on the life of rapper Notorious B.I.G) is one such example, and while it is an enjoyable and compelling piece, it is perhaps more suited to the rapper's new fans rather than his die- hard ones.The story focuses on the life of Biggie Smalls (AKA the Notorious B.I.G) from his early beginnings as a New York drug dealer to his early success when he signs on to Bad Boy Records to his personal relationships later in life to his untimely death by an unknown assailant.
Bad Boy Record head Puff Daddy (who also produces the film) is suspiciously portrayed more hagiographically than BIG himself, many of BIG's problems aren't perhaps as accurately as they should be (i.e. the drug dealing and firearms charges aren't as severe as they would be in reality) and you can't help that the film has a overtly negative view of the West Coast rap scene, mainly that of Suge Knight & Tupac Shukar, leading to many set-pieces (mainly one which describes why Tupac turned on Biggie) that even those who have reservations towards Suge and Tupac (I have my own) won't buy.
All the other actors are pretty good too, with the exception of Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shukar, who while good, doesn't bother to attempt to look (only bearing the slightest resemblance) or sound like Tupac, something even more distracting considering Jamal's accuracy to his role or how one of Tupac's songs plays on the radio at one point, making the differences even more obvious.However, despite its faults, Notorious isn't an overall bad film.
No Dream Is To B.I.G. I went to watch this film not really expecting much, just thought it would be your average hood movie, wasn't a big fan of Biggie Smalls too...until now!
Through raw talent and sheer determination, Wallace transforms himself from Brooklyn street hustler (once selling crack to pregnant women) to one of the greatest rappers of all time; THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. Follow his meteoric rise to fame and his refusal to succumb to expectations - redefining our notion of "The American Dream." The story does get interesting and a lot of lessons are learned and this film sent out a message saying: It's never too late to change yourself.If you are a drama and rapping fan then by unanimous decision this film is what you need to watch.
It has fantastic performances by every actor (especially Jamal Woolard as Biggie), but with that said, I'm afraid that this film just focused too much on the negative side of Biggie, rather than his main contributions.Of course, the music is great, the cinematography is pretty good, it's well directed and extremely well acted (that's twice I've said that, stop me the next time I bring it up), but there's just such a negative flow to the whole film and that pretty much brought it down from my original rating of 8 to a 6.Yes, it did exceed my expectations, but not by much.
It's a good movie and deserves to be recognized, but I just really wished that they had focused much more on the positive side of Biggie's life rather than all the negative.By the way, I'm not a fan of rap music so this is a totally neutral review..
The film is populated by giants, such as Biggie, Tupac, Puffy, Shug (a large sized man, and an incredibly tiny human being, who in my opinion was more than likely responsible for the murder of this musical giant) Faith Evans, Lil Kim, and others.
i seen the movie at the theater, and there were only 2 other white people there- the rest were black kids aged 15-23 I'd say- most of em laughed whenever Biggie Smalls said something that the film makers intended to be funny.it was okay- had all the shiny bland production values of a typical Hollywood movie, failed to portray life as gritty and shitty like it is, but I've seen a lot worse.
this movie makes it look like becoming a super star is a walk in the park (which can be said for A lot of movies), and we all know the answer to that...there's not much to say about the performances and story, as most people can probably guess the flow of the movie before it even starts- Biggie Smalls roses from the gutter in Brooklyn to rappa super stardom, then got shot by west coast gangsters in 1997- so it's pretty easy to conceive of what happens in the film based on the semantics of a usual Hollywood biography.4.8/10- nothing special, but worth a watch if you've nothing to do.
Biggie Smalls influence on modern Hip Hop is still relevant today in the lyrical styling of Jay-Z, Nas and countless other New York rappers, bringing his life story to the big screen would require great detail and most all of the right actor.
Rarely do we talk much about Wallace's life as young boy, a teenager, and somebody who tried to break into the rap game before being picked up by Sean "Puffy" Combs, who had faith in him and his abilities.George Tillman, Jr.'s Notorious makes a bold attempt at detailing those years and, as a result, produces a captivating biopic, one that is built on complete and total devotion, admiration, disgust, but above all, interest in its character and not his rapping persona.
The film doesn't make the case he was a role model, frequently being unfaithful to his girlfriends and children, and going back on his word several times in the face of turmoil and uncertainty, but paints him more as a figure that came to define some of rap music's core elements.Notorious is a rousing biopic, never boring, filled with invigorating and memorable music, some of which even performed by Woolard himself, and bearing very skilled people in the writing and directing fields to assure justice was done to one of rap music's most charismatic and defining figures.Starring: Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Antonique Smith, and Anthony Mackie.
I like to just give honest reviews without going too much into the characters and plot and spoiling ot for everyone.The Good Points - Good music, great casting the lead actor stands out as B.I.G and as always Angela Bassett is reliable as ever,not sure of the complete story but the movie looked as if it tried it's best to portray an honest account of his life.The Bad Points - Appeals to a particular type of audience, leaves you with mixed feelings afterwards.Overall - Not a movie which will appeal to everyone, I enjoyed it but then again I like that type of music, it's a decent enough film but like I said before it leaves you with mixed feelings towards the mighty B.I.G and his life and the problem is the truth of his life will probably never be revealed so you feel a little cheated somehow..
Notorious B.I.G. This film could almost be seen as a glorified documentary of the rise and fall of Chistopher Wallace, A.K.A Biggy Smalls/Notorious B.I.G. As the storyline unveils, the audience seems to try and integrate themselves into BIG's character, however it is not as well directed as it really could have been and this was a huge disappointing factor of the movie.
(Remember that Notorious BIG was one of the first rappers to come off the streets and make something for himself.) The film was overall nothing more than a 6/10 because of the lack of emotion and build-ups, but I did like the respect he always gave to his mother, and the change of personality BIG showed just before Tupac's death.
This movie was an amazing movie, i give it a 10/10 although some parts could of been better it portrayed a beautiful line of what his life was, as a rapper and how he grew up, also how new york still is today, i'd recommend you watch this movie, you will laugh, then you will want to cry.This is history in the making, and forever long live Notorious B.I.G R.I.Peven if you are not a fan of rap, this movie will blow you away with pieces left behind to shatter, his words and music mean much more than just jams for you to listen to, they are spiritual, you will want to hear him over and over again.
But it was his talent for rapping - for putting into words and music his reflections on what it meant to be a black man living in the inner city - that brought him to the attention of Sean "Puffy" Combs, founder of Bad Boy Records, who signed Wallace, now known as Biggie Smalls, to his first recording contract.Soon, B.I.G. was a major figure in the gangsta' rap scene, adored by his fans, hated by his enemies and partaking in the fruits of all that the "high life" of a mass market celebrity had to offer: namely, wealth, fame, fashion, women, and an unlimited access to guns and drugs.
This real-life thug opera that played itself out in the media ultimately turned deadly when, first, Tupac, and then B.I.G. himself met similar fates at the barrel of a gun.The movie is most notable for the performance of rapper Jamal Woodard in the title role, who not only looks amazingly like the original Biggie but manages to sound quite a bit like him as well.
The film sheds light on the hardships, life and relationships that B.I.G often spoke about in his rhymes.Watching the story of Christopher Wallace unfold was extremely interesting because it truly revealed the man behind the music.Christopher Wallace was played by first time actor, Jamal Woolard.
He does a serviceable job of expressing the flaws in Wallace's character and his early attraction to the mean streets during his days as a drug dealer, but Derek Luke as the charismatic (and, obviously, angelic, considering who produced the movie) Combs and Anthony Mackie as rapper Tupac Shakur steal every scene they are in with their over-sized personalities.
Look,I'm reading and reading this comments and there's a lot of it that I wanna say but I will try to make it short but clean...First of all, lets forget all of the things how bad this movie was made...How it didn't show anything of Notorious and I agree with the most people here saying that it was "Hollywood", I mean, what did you expect a real life story?
Look I am maybe wrong about something and Im not saying this is a completely bad movie because even if I'm in hip hop for 17, 18 years I still don't know anything bout 2pac or Biggie no matter how many articles I read or how much I support them and listen to their music...Like most of you all out there.
Only people who were really close to them and the killers know the truth behind all this.And for the end I just wanna say for all of ya Biggie and Tupac fans and family, this two men were and will be the greatest of all time, no matter how they lived their lives but PLEASE IN THE FUTURE TRY TO BE BETTER, LEARN AND LOVE EACH OTHER, THINK GOOD EVEN FOR THE ONES THAT Don't LIKE YOU, BECAUSE AT THE END...ITS NOT ABOUT HOW MANY MONEY OR FAME U COULD GET AND HOW FAST U COULD GET TO THE TOP, ITS ABOUT ACCOMPLISHING YOUR SELF TO THE FULLEST AND FEEDING YOUR SOUL, YOUR BODY AND MIND...BECAUSE IF U MANAGE TO DO THAT, YOU WILL BE LIVING A LIFE EVEN AFTER DEATH!!!!
I was expecting, and looking forward to, a dramatised portrayal of the life and times of Christopher Wallace, which is exactly what I got, and I enjoyed every minute of it, from start to finish.Now being a long time fan of the Notorious B.I.G, may imply that this review could be biased, but I can assure you that I am, more often that not, more than ready to attack a movie and pick it apart, no matter what it is.As someone who knows the ins and out of the story, obviously, there were some things that bothered me slightly, including the void of some key characters who played a big part in Biggie's life, and the less than impressive casting of Tupac and Puffy's characters.
It would seem that all the reviews from other IMDb users say the same thing...the movie is completely biased towards making Biggie Smalls look like a glowing angel and it's true it does that but I know nothing about his history, his life, or his death so for me it was just completely and utterly entertaining.