Variety
A rock-solid biopic with a foolproof rise-and-fall storyline and a warmly nuanced performance by Jamal Woolard.
Full review
Notorious (2009)
Biopic of the late, great Notorious B.I.G.. The actor with b.i.g. shoes to fill is Jamal Woolard, a fellow MC from Biggie's hometown of Brooklyn where the majority of the film will be set. A whole host of other hip hop celebrities are being portrayed throughout the story - P. Diddy, Lil Kim, Suge Knight and Tupac amongst them - that charts Biggie's rise out of the ghetto and into the big time before being shot dead in Los Angeles, 1997, at the peak of his fame.
Training Day's Antoine Fuqua was set to direct but pulled out at the last minute, so duties went to George Tillman who's last film was 2000's Men of Honour. Sean "Diddy" Combs is one of the producers.
2009Rating: R16, contains violence, offensive language, drug use & sex scenes123 minsUSA
DramaMusic
- Director:
- George Tillman Jr. ('Men of Honour')
- Writer:
- Reggie Rock BythewoodCheo Hodari Coker
- Cast:
- Anthony MackieAngela BassettDerek LukeNaturi NaughtonJamal WoolardCharles Malik Whitfield
Notorious (2009) / Reviews
Total Film
George Tillman’s serviceable but uninspired Biggie biopic contrives to ignore the elephant in the room. Was Biggie involved in Tupac’s shooting(s)?
Full reviewThe New York Times
Notorious settles into a curious comfort zone; it's half pop fable, half naturalistic docudrama. Not a bad movie, but nowhere near as strong as its soundtrack.
Full review
Roger Ebert
A good film in many ways, but its best achievement is the casting of Jamal Woolard, a rapper named Gravy, in the title role.
Full review
Premiere Magazine
Angela Bassett is great as his strict, single mother; The soundtrack is great, of course, and the ending features moving archival footage of the streets of Brooklyn after Wallace's murder.
Full review
Newshub
If you’re a Biggy fan, you’ll easily see past the flaws of the film for the bliss it provides, and you’ll probably walk out misty-eyed. If you’re not a Biggy fan, as a modern Hollywood hip-hop piece it beats the pants off Hustle & Flow, Get Rich or Die Tryin' or 8 Mile.
Full review
Los Angeles Times
Through it all are the rhymes and the music, hugely enjoyable in their own right, and the long, large shadow of Biggie.
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Hollywood Reporter
For a man apparently making his first film, Woolard carries the movie like a pro. Cross your fingers that this is no fluke, for this guy could be a real comer.
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