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Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Jamal Woolard, Anthony Mackie, Antonique Smith ... see more see more... , Naturi Naughton , Kevin L. Phillips , Dennis L.A. White , Marc John Jefferies , Julia Pace Mitchell , Aunjanue Ellis , John Ventimiglia , Charles Malik Whitfield , Christopher Jordan Wallace

Fox Searchlight presents the tragic life story of rap star Notorious B.I.G. from director George Tillman Jr. (Soul Food) and executive producer Sean "Diddy" Combs. The script is provided by Cheo Hodar... read more read more...i Coker and Biker Boyz writer/director Reggie Rock Blythewood. Jamal Woolard portrays the slain rapper, with Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, and Anthony Mackie filling out the supporting cast. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Flixster Users

66% liked it

94,969 ratings

Critics

50% liked it

137 critics

R, 2 hr. 2 min.

Directed by: George Tillman Jr.

Release Date: January 16, 2009

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DVD Release Date: April 21, 2009

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Stats: 6,839 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (6,839)

  • Chiefilms
    February 5, 2010
    Chiefilms
    Biopics are difficult to make and typically flawed, rushing through stages of the person's life and focusing on pointless incidents at times. Notorious falls victim to this but for the most part it was pretty good. The casting in terms of resemblance to the portrayed characters... read more is solid, except for 2pac. The quality of the acting at times is inconsistent but mostly above average. The good's and bad's of rap biopics are fun to watch.
  • MissMorganLeee
    August 11, 2009
    MissMorganLeee
    Along the lines of 8 mile. this movie tells a story while it connects you with the main character. Even tho you know whats going to happen to him in the begining I still was interested in his like and what would happen to him...The music what very good, altho im not reall a fan o... read moref hardcore rap. I can see the appeal of it. I just have to be in the right mood to see it. This movie has some very strong performances as well.
  • puffchunk
    April 29, 2009
    puffchunk
    I don't care too much for rap, but a good biop is always fun. B.I.G. seemed like a pretty big douche, but it made for an interesting story.
  • LitelBluHli
    April 27, 2009
    LitelBluHli
    I really liked it! I remember being 12 or 13 at the time of the deaths of Biggie and Tupac, I just didn't really know what went down, but watching this clarifies a few things for me. It was interesting watching him grow up and doing what he did to get to where he got to; also the... read more relationships he had with Lil' Kim, Tupac, and Faith. What I really think though is that there should be a Tupac movie out about his life story.
  • shiftyeyeddog
    April 25, 2009
    shiftyeyeddog
    It's hard to look at this film objectively. Maybe I'd enjoy it more if I didn't think the music was all complete crap. Maybe I'd enjoy it more if I didn't think the whole gangsta rap "thug" lifestyle was a joke. But as it is, the characters are caricatures and the soundtrack is... read more full of music that makes you wonder why anyone liked this guy.

    So why did I even watch it? Well, even if I don't know or care much about someone, biographies can still be interesting and entertaining. This is not one of them. A subject unworthy of a biography.
  • jorgeroman1
    May 27, 2010
    jorgeroman1
    Sure it has many historical inaccuracies, but even then I enjoyed the movie. A movie about one of my all time favorite hip-hop rappers who I met once at the age of 5. Jamal played Notorious wonderfully, & has a great talent for singing & imitating his songs perfectly (gu... read morey should get his own record deal some time). And then we come to Naturi (one of the hottest chicks out there) who played Lil Kim amazingly. Naturi is much sexier than Lil Kim, & just as good as a singer.

    R.I.P. Chris Wallace
  • fb704730572
    March 11, 2012
    fb704730572
    By-the-numbers biopic, done competently enough to be watchable, but told in a very conventional, often bland way. Jamal Woolard, though serviceable, doesn't bring any real depth or nuance to the role that would elevate an otherwise lackluster film. The script hits on all the fami... read moreliar beats for such a story, but never really gives the film any cohesive narrative that would be a compelling story even if it wasn't a biopic, it simply goes from scene to scene, all with an obvious and contrived feel. While enjoyable enough to stick with it, its lack of ambition or inspiration is frustrating.

    3/5 Stars
  • jeffboam
    August 17, 2010
    jeffboam
    Think of it as a Horatio Rapper tale, a truly American Rags to Bling story that encompasses all of the finest elements of a good bio-pic. The material is honest and heartfelt?for the lead actor, this assessment goes tenfold. Best of all, like the best of the genre, the film is mo... read morere interested in its subject?s eventful life than controversial death. Perhaps, the film could have been even more warts-and-all and less like a filmstrip, but the story that results is never boring. Buoyed by an amazingly dead-on performance, Notorious is everything an invigorating biography should be.

    In this R-rated bio-pic, the life and violent death of East Coast rapper Christopher Wallace, AKA Notorious B.I.G. (Woolard), is chronicled.

    The film takes a definite vantage point, albeit in successive cradle-to-grave chapters. And this is not to say that the film should have embraced a manic, non-linear, cross cutting approach a la Nixon?Notorious?s style is in its straightforwardness. Oftentimes, the flick feels like a music video, which would normally be met with cries of ?foul? by your reviewer. Given the fact that the breadth of the story takes place during the MTV Age, however, this manner serves the material perfectly. Though the material drives alongside his drug-selling, two-timing, and warring with fellow rapper Tupac Shakur, the script never crashes head-on into the overall issue of angel or devil. Instead, it arguably takes a definite biased stand, elevating its subject to pariah. There is no debating the star-making turn by Woolard, however. His brilliant performance rings of realism.

    Bottom line: Noteworthy but not hypnotic.
  • Fascade518
    January 27, 2009
    Fascade518
    Truly a classic story of one of the finest lyricists in the hip hop game in the nineties. Truly a story to be told and remembered forever. See this if you are true hip hop fan.
  • fb1025970122
    January 5, 2012
    fb1025970122
    "Notorious" looked as if it could have been handled the wrong way-it had a glitzy trailer and with many of the characters still being alive, it could have come off as bad impressions with some of the actors. Luckily, the movie feels gritty when need be and glamorous when it wants... read more to be, but it always has that 90's hip-hop vibe to it. As for the performances, Jamal Woolard absolutely nails Biggie, it doesnt even feel you are watching an actor, but that you are watching the actual Christopher Wallace re-enact his life. He is perfect for this role, and had this not come out so early, im certain he would have recieved Oscar consideration for his portrayal. The rest of the cast is very well assembled-Bassett and Derek Luke take their widely known roles and show us a side we would have never known about Ms. Wallace or Diddy. The actress playing Lil Kim seemed dead-on and Faith Evans seemed the only real testy one. Hvaing Biggie's real-life son play him as a young boy adds a certain poignancy to those scenes and gives you an honest idea of how a straight-laced kid can get into life on the streets. "Notorious" makes no excuses for Biggie's actions, he was not the best guy, and it doesnt try to make him out to be one, it is honest and shows you how he dealt with his faults and his determination to overcome them and not look back. This is not a typical bio-pick, we hardly get a montage or anything like that, we have a story, and even though we know how it ends, this window into Biggie Smalls mind is something every hip-hop fan should see.

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Critic Reviews

David Edelstein
January 20, 2009
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

Even if we miss the thinking that went into the creation of Wallace's B.I.G.-ger-than-life alter ego, the movie's performances are exultant. Full Review

David Denby
January 20, 2009
David Denby, New Yorker

The movie leaves us with the sense that, twelve years after Biggie Smalls's death, a lot of people are trying to extract whatever profit or pride they can from the chaotic life of a young man who was,... Full Review

Ben Mankiewicz
January 20, 2009
Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies

If Milk set the standard for biopics in 2008, then 2009 is off to a strong start with Notorious. Full Review

Ben Lyons
January 20, 2009
Ben Lyons, At the Movies

For a hardcore fan of his music and his life, it rings true. Full Review

Claudia Puig
January 16, 2009
Claudia Puig, USA Today

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. Full Review

Jason Anderson
January 16, 2009
Jason Anderson, Toronto Star

This tale of triumph and tragedy within hip hop's elite is intelligent, gripping and far less sensationalistic than anyone could have expected. Full Review

Justin Berton
January 16, 2009
Justin Berton, San Francisco Chronicle

It must have been an act of great restraint for Sean Combs to resist titling this film, about Chris Wallace, his close friend turned rapper and cultural icon, The Notorious B.I.G. -- The Sean Combs St... Full Review

Stephanie Zacharek
January 16, 2009
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

Notorious is surprisingly and pleasantly unflashy, a straightforward picture that makes a distinction between classiness and bling. Full Review

Roger Moore
January 16, 2009
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

George Tillman Jr.'s film may follow the well-worn path of many a musical biography. But spot-on casting, a light touch around the edges and affection for its subject makes this warts-and-all look at ... Full Review

Stephen Whitty
January 16, 2009
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

The script lets too much slide, and director George Tillman Jr. -- whose biggest films have been Soul Food and the Barbershop franchise -- abets it. Full Review

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