Notorious: Biggie Smalls on the Biggie Screen

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Not long after the 1997 murder of rapper Christopher Wallace (aka The Notorious BIG, Biggie, Big Poppa, and on and on,) biopic talks started. Now, more than a decade later, we have Notorious, the George Tillman-directed biography that follows the rise and untimely fall of Brooklyn's most famous hip-hop icon. In a 'rose from the ghetto to make it big in the rap game' plot we've seen done well (Hustle and Flow) and not so well (Get Rich or Die Tryin',) Notorious pleasantly surprises naysayers with a solid film carried largely by Jamal Woodard's spot-on portrayal of Biggie.

The crew tries not to fall for director George Tillman's "pull my finger" trick.

Tillman wastes no time grabbing the audience's attention with an opening scene that depicts Wallace's 1997 murder on the streets of Los Angeles. From there, we're sent several years back to Brooklyn's infamous Bedford-Stuyvesant projects where the rapper got his start verbally sparring on the streets while peddling crack. After knocking up girlfriend Jan (Julia Pace Mitchell) and getting kicked out of his mother's house, Biggie lands in front of up-and-coming rap mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs, but not before a prison stint on drug charges that causes Wallace to reevaluate his chosen career path. Fast forward a few years and Wallace is the headliner on the East Coast's most popular hip-hop label, Bad Boy Records. The industry's demons haunt him, however, as fame leads to marital infidelity and an increasingly violent rivalry with Biggie's former friend, West Coast rhymer Tupac Shakur. Media buzz only serves to increase the tension between the two and, shortly thereafter, Shakur dies in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. Wallace then attempts to end the coastal rivalry with a promotional trip to L.A., but tensions only increase and the rapper falls victim to a shooting oddly similar to that of his former friend and rival. Note: This has all been in the news for ten years, so no calling me a spoiler!

Woodard with Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace, who forgot to wear her fatigues.

Sure, you've heard and read similar 'rapper makes it big and can't handle the fame' stories, but this version is refreshing in the sense that Notorious stops short of glorifying the gangster lifestyle. In more than a few instances, Tillman nearly makes a villain of his main character, showing him selling crack to a pregnant woman and abandoning his children for a life of excess. The film has its weak points, namely the supporting cast. Derek Luke (as Puffy,) Anthony Mackie (as Shakur,) and Marc Jefferies (as Lil Cease,) all fall short in comparison to supporting performances from their costars, Angela Bassett (as Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace,) Naturi Naughton (as Big's protégé, Lil Kim,) and Antonique Smith (as Big's wife, Faith Evans.) However, the above performances are nearly lost in the shadow of Woodard's nearly impeccable depiction of the late rapper. From the heavy breathing, to the limp, to the vocal delivery, Woodard brings Biggie back to life for a few short hours. The exceptional portrayal is no accident, as Woodard spent time honing his character with Biggie's real-life mother, Voletta Wallace, and experienced a similarly tumultuous upbringing. The actor sold drugs on the same Brooklyn streets as his subject, even famously taking a bullet to the butt on his way to a radio interview in 2006. Add to this the fact that the real "Puffy" signed on as executive producer for the project, and a soundtrack laden with Biggie's classic rhymes, and we're left with a film that's incredibly close to reality. Those unfamiliar with the rapper's story won't get a fraction of the experience as those who've studied up a bit. So grab a copy of Ready to Die before hitting the theater. Being an avid fan of the late rapper, I knew before seeing the film that any imitator would be hard-pressed to impress me...I was impressed. I'll give Notorious a B+. Click the Video tab for the trailer. Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox.

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