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Notorious

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

2009

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critics

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 74 Ratings

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5.6

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5.6	Your Score
5.6	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 74 Ratings

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NOTORIOUS

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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Awards & Rankings

80	#80 Most Shared Movie of 2009

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Metascore

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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

New York Daily News 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

USA Today 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

Village Voice 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

Portland Oregonian 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

Film Threat 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

HenryF.

Jan 31, 2009

This movie really showed me how a person with real talent can grow up in the worst situations, and still end up at the top, no matter what. 8/10 for Notorious.

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ydnar4

Aug 27, 2014

There is some room for improvement in this movie but that didn't keep me from truly enjoying it. I watched this not knowing a thing about the Notorious B.I.G and I did not feel lost at any part in the movie. It is also a movie about music that actually contains a good amount of music fromThere is some room for improvement in this movie but that didn't keep me from truly enjoying it. I watched this not knowing a thing about the Notorious B.I.G and I did not feel lost at any part in the movie. It is also a movie about music that actually contains a good amount of music from that artist. I'm thinking about checking out biggie after watching this movie.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Sasha

Jan 16, 2009

The actor has a resemblance to Biggie, but is missing the lazy eyes. The story leaves out the murders Biggie committed and the movie serves to prop him up as a hero instead of understand the true evil behind the man. That said, evaluating this movie not from a historically accurate lens The actor has a resemblance to Biggie, but is missing the lazy eyes. The story leaves out the murders Biggie committed and the movie serves to prop him up as a hero instead of understand the true evil behind the man. That said, evaluating this movie not from a historically accurate lens allows us to see that a good film, with good acting exists on camera. Maybe it should just be fiction.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

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

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JayH

Apr 18, 2009

The performances are excellent, but as a biography, it seems like the director had too much footage and threw together scenes resulting in a story which only scratches the surface of the title character. Too much is squeezed into an already too long two hour time frame. Perhaps a more The performances are excellent, but as a biography, it seems like the director had too much footage and threw together scenes resulting in a story which only scratches the surface of the title character. Too much is squeezed into an already too long two hour time frame. Perhaps a more skillful director could have pulled it all together.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

John

Jan 17, 2009

A bad film.Notorious is bored.

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