I have been so busy trying to get tantalizing content together for Damn The Man that I have not been able to give you the skinny on "Notorious," the 2009 biopic directed by George Tillman, Jr. (who directed the 1997 movie "Soul Food" that spawned the Showtime cable TV series of the same name) about the short but incredibly remarkable life of one of the pillars of 90's hip-hop/rap, The Notorious B.I.G., from his beginnings before his 1994 "Ready to Die" album to his death in 1997 prior to the release of his 1997 album "Life After Death."
The real Biggie Smalls, or Christopher Wallace, as his mama Violetta called him, pictured above, was a fascinating enigma for hip-hop and rock music fans. He was a walking contradiction: big, black and ugly ogre and ladies' man...ruthless crack-slinger and sensitive street poet...relentlessly detailed journalist of urban woe and materialistic party animal. Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker, screenwriters of "Notorious" seem plugged in to these inherent oppositional forces in Biggie, and drop the audience into the maelstrom of this man's motivations for his extreme actions in life, thereby crafting a compelling retelling of a familiar story to music fans.
Even if Biggie's story isn't familiar to you, it's possible to come away from "Notorious" with a new appreciation for the man, his work and the overwhelmingly difficult circumstances under which he led his life. The quite astute casting of the film is partly to thank for this, especially newcomer Jamal Woolard as Notorious B.I.G., who captures the strangely alluring and captivating quality of the main character, Derek Luke as rap mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs, and Antonique Smith as R&B singer/love of Biggie's life Faith Evans, who I felt really embodied the sweetly vulnerable yet tough quality of a particular kind of East Coast gal. The relative physical attractiveness of the actors compared to their real-life counterparts, a mainstay practice in casting in Hollywood film, I believe really works in this story's favor, as it helps to draw the audience into trusting in what could have been some very unpleasant or exploitative portrayals of difficult characters.
In fact, the turn away from exploitation to a truly tasteful attempt at dramatizing Biggie Smalls's often sensational life is something that allows me to recommend the film wholeheartedly. Biggie is a musician that I hold close to my heart as a 90's girl and New Yorker, and I was simultaneously excited and hesitant to see the film. "Notorious" managed to cleverly weave the inspiration for his cutting, wittily urbane rhymes and funkdafied backing music into the fabric of the plot, warming the cockles of all those who can rap "Juicy" and "Who Shot Ya?" word-for-word. This film trumped my low expectations to be a very well-done (though not transcendent--the direction was maybe too "safe" to reach those heights that his music did) film about a very important musical figure who changed the game of hip-hop forever.
Don't take your 90's-ologist's word for it, here's a review from Black Voices blog for your perusal. Here's a more critical review of the film if you're on the haters' side of things from Slate.com.
Also, here's a lovely profile of the actress Antonique Smith from Black Voices blog.
Please check out the trailer for this surprisingly good and emotional film:
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