Notorious, the Christopher Wallace biopic that I offered my commentary on while it was in production, has come and gone from the theaters and is now available on video. Notorious tells the story of Christopher Wallace’s transformation in the 80s and 90s from the crack dealer on the corner into Biggie Smalls, King of New York and Bad Boy Record’s flagship talent at the top of the hip hop industry.

This movie was up against high expectations, as Biggie remains one of the most popular and influential rappers of all time 12 years after his late-night murder in the streets of Los Angeles at the age of 24.  Being a HUGE Biggie fan myself, I came to the movie trepidatious but excited.  My expectations were not high, but I held out hope for the promise of something special that lay in the material.

Not only was Notorious better than I was expecting, I quite liked it.  It’s not good the way Ray is good, but it comes together into a pleasing whole on the strength of a go-for-broke script and impassioned performances all the way around.

Jamal Woolard faces the intimidating task of filling Biggie’s shoes.  While he matches up to Biggie in neither charisma nor skill, his is a confident and charming performance that we can root for and get into.  The rest of the cast is equally spirited and impassioned.  As moments around them sometimes take on a cartoonish quality, the performances never descend into mimicry or caricature.  Angela Bassett as Voletta, Biggie’s mom, is the movie’s backbone.  Voletta is the story’s moral and intellectual core, while Ms. Bassett lends a crucial air of legitimacy and experience to the proceedings.

The biggest trap that lay waiting for this movie was the possibility of losing itself to its own admiration of the hero, and fondness for the setting.  I was worried that it was going to amount adults playing dress-up, re-enacting vital moments in a person’s life without constructing a dramatic arc.  What we get instead is a loving and insightful tribute.   Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker have stripped the Biggie legacy down to it’s essentials.  Their goal here is not to show us that Biggie was just a man.  Notorious is inspired to show Christopher as much more than a man.  It glorifies as it simplifies but that’s sort of the point since it’s trying to tell us that despite our challenges, you and I can do all of this and more.

The deal-breaker for snobs is going to be that Jamal Woolard, a.k.a.Gravy, is no Biggie Smalls in the rap department.  I think you’re going to get a lot more out of this movie if you’re a Biggie fan and know the songs than if you’re seeing it cold because Woolard isn’t really there to represent Biggie, he’s there as an avatar for you as you rap along either in your head or along with a room full of people.

I am glad that I saw this movie on DVD.  I think this movie plays a lot better on video than it would have in the theatre.  It’s no Academy Award contender, but it’s worth watching. Notorious is a satisfying dramatization for fans, but where it really succeeds is as a Biggie 101 program for newbies. With all of the teenagers getting interested in golden age hip hop, Notorious could evolve into a valuable tool for giving those new fans a sense of the world that Christopher Wallace’s art emerged from.

Tags: biggie smalls, movie, movies, notorious, notorious b.i.g., review