Notorious

Name: Notorious
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Released: January 16, 2009
Duration: 122 min
Rating: 60
Cast: Derek Luke, Jamal Woolard

2009

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Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 79 Ratings

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5.8	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 79 Ratings

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Notorious

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Movie Details & Credits

Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: January 16, 2009 | R

Starring: Derek Luke, Jamal Woolard

Summary: 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 wereIn 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)… Expand

Director: George Tillman Jr

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, Music

Rating: R

Runtime: 122 min

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Critic Reviews

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. Read full review

Elizabeth Weitzman

Layering his film with the songs that made his subject an icon, Tillman is aware that Biggie connected with his audience because he told stories others instantly understood. Notorious does that, too. Read full review

Premiere Jenni Miller

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. Read full review

Claudia Puig

Notorious is like a piece of well-crafted bling. It looks good, and facets of it shine, but behind the gilded facade there's not much there. And what is there can be troubling and retrogressive. Read full review

Robert Wilonsky

Notorious, despite its bigger-than-life subject and habit of dripping sex sweat at the most unexpected moments, is rather square. Read full review

Shawn Levy

What the picture doesn't do is make sense of the world it tries to depict, or even, truly, depict it. Biggie -- and, for that matter, Woolard -- deserved better. Read full review

Pete Vonder Haar

Absent the actual music, Notorious would be a lot worse. Read full review

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User Reviews

AshleyM.

Jan 17, 2009

I am a Big Biggie Fan and I know he died at the end but the movie move me so much to tears! He went before his time! I will always love Big Poppa!

0 of 0 users found this helpful

bobbym

Feb 13, 2009

Actors that played puffy & 2pac were off it seemed. However Jamal Woolard couldn't have portrayed big any better. The movie be a 5 disk season set, but since it is a movie, they did a great job choosing what to put in and take out. Highly recommend.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

bfoore90

Dec 5, 2019

Good movie, provides an honest look into the life of the Notorious BIG up until his untimely death. While its much better than "All Eyez On Me" as it delves into the man Christopher Wallace was and not the hardened rapper he portrayed on screen, there was still some room for improvement toGood movie, provides an honest look into the life of the Notorious BIG up until his untimely death. While its much better than "All Eyez On Me" as it delves into the man Christopher Wallace was and not the hardened rapper he portrayed on screen, there was still some room for improvement to be had here. The film isn't perfect by any means and I only wish "All Eyez On Me" could have been as good as this but that didn't stop me from enjoying it nonetheless… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

bryans

Jan 18, 2009

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 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.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Soldier

Oct 15, 2013

An Average Movie, Could have been way better... The dialogue is too cheesy. Too many mistakes in comparison between what happened and the script (like for instance, Biggie doing his freestyle in the year 1990, and with a zoom out you get to see him standing next to a poster of 2Pac's movieAn Average Movie, Could have been way better... The dialogue is too cheesy. Too many mistakes in comparison between what happened and the script (like for instance, Biggie doing his freestyle in the year 1990, and with a zoom out you get to see him standing next to a poster of 2Pac's movie "Juice" which was released in 1992)

There has been too much emphasis on the characters that got me to think that Puff Daddy was an angel and an inspirating machine, with lots of fortune cookie quotes (No Wonder, he's the executive producer). and you get the feeling that 2Pac is nothing but a maniac, trying to turn him into a villain... The relationship between the characters where mysterious, you never get to know what happened between Biggie and Jan... or with Biggie and Faith after his accident. The scene before he was shot was OK, but filled with cheap drama...

Nevertheless, the actors did a really good job. Angela Bassett aced in her performance as Voletta Williams. Naturi Naughton's portrayal of Lil Kim was really good, Antonique Smith as Faith Hill was a really promising performance. Jamal Woolard did the best he could to try to talk like Biggie..

In a nutshell, it would have been a way better movie if there was much more investment on a better story! Kinda sad that Antoine Fuqua wasn't chosen to direct this, could have been better with him!… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

AlexH

May 11, 2009

A boring passable film on one of the most convtroversal figures of his time, Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

John

Jan 17, 2009

A bad film.Notorious is bored.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

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