Well acted, beautifully shot hip-hop flick becomes visual poetry
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| THE Marilyn of hip-hop: Lil’ Kim, (Naughton). |
As if to remind us not all African-Americans are in the White House, "Notorious" dramatizes the life of Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. (1972-1997). The screenplay has some trouble balancing all the elements: street vs. studio, East Coast vs. West Coast, Jan vs. Kim vs. Faith.
Starting with the shooting that killed B.I.G., "Notorious" flashes back to 1983, when a girl at his Brooklyn school says Chris (played by his son, Christopher Jordan Wallace) can’t be a performer because "he’s too fat, black and ugly." With his father out of the picture, he’s raised by his protective mother, Voletta (Angela Bassett).
As he grows up and develops a taste for bling, Wallace’s (Jamal Woolard) friend D-Roc (Dennis L.A. White) inducts him into the world of drug dealing. He’s good at it but makes a couple of mistakes. The product of one mistake, a daughter, is born to Jan (Julia Pace Mitchell) while Chris is in prison as a result of the other mistake.
With time to work on his rhyming skills, Chris is ready to record when he gets out.
Fortunately, he meets Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs (Derek Luke), who’s getting started in the music business and promises to make Wallace a millionaire by the time he’s 21.
Combs urges his protégé to stay off the streets and develop his talent: "Don’t chase the paper. Chase the dream."
He sees Biggie as filling a void because all the rap stars of the day are from the West Coast.
Chris gets involved with Kimberly Jones (Naturi Naughton) and transforms her into Lil’ Kim, "the Marilyn Monroe of hip-hop." They’re together, personally and professionally, for some time. But when he meets Faith Evans (Antonique Smith) a whirlwind romance leads to marriage in three weeks. His inability to resist temptation makes it a stormy marriage, ending before he learns she’s carrying his son.
Another relationship that gets rocky is the friendship between Biggie and West Coast rapper Tupac Shakur (Anthony Mackie). Tupac is shot on a visit to their New York studio and accuses Biggie and Puffy of setting him up. The media fan the flames, an intercoastal feud being good for sales. The former friends don’t patch things up before Tupac is shot again, fatally this time, and Biggie is also killed when he goes west to promote his second album.
Nothing else in Wallace’s life is left unpatched in the screenplay, which has him making peace with all the women in his life — including his mother — in the hours before his death. He’s in a good place when he dies. His second album is more wholesome and his mother comes to appreciate his accomplishments.
Trying to put down the high life ("It ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Mo’ money, mo’ problems") while also basking in its glamour, "Notorious" should earn its share of notoriety. It’s well acted and beautifully shot. The sublime cinematography, combining the best aspects of music video and film, turns the Brooklyn hood into visual poetry surpassing Biggie’s verbal skills.
It’s not recommended for anyone who’s not already into rap. But for those who are, "Notorious" shows the old biopic formula can adapt to any musical genre.
"An’ if ya don’t know, now ya know."
NOTORIOUS • B
Director: George Tillman Jr.
Cast: Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett and Naturi Naughton
Opens: Friday, Jan. 13 in wide release. 2 hr., 3 min. • R
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition January 16, 2009.