There aren’t many ways you can spin a story told a million times before. Whether the story of Biggie is worth telling or not was quickly rendered irrelevant when Notorious director George Tillman, Jr decided to administer a straightforward and pedestrian structure in retelling the slain rapper’s life. Nevermind that the genre it operates in, the musical biopic, is already formulaic to begin with; Biggie’s rise towards a rap career was in itself hardly unique—nor was it that compelling of a story.
A kid from a broken family, motivated by the beguiling smell of money, injects himself into a life of crime while nursing his rap prowess as a hobby. After a quick stint in the slammer, the remorseful kid leaves the gangsta life behind to embrace a gangsta rap life instead. He joins a budding record label and uses his talent to procure fame and fortune. This is the story of Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls aka The Notorious B.I.G.). This is also a story that continues perpetually in urban areas and rap circles. While it’s unlikely that all (or if any) of them could become the next Biggie, many have had a similar genesis. Case in point: the actor portraying Biggie, newcomer Jamal Woolard, is a real life drug dealer-cum-rapper himself.
If there’s one standout element in Biggie’s childhood story that intrigues, it’s how he became involved with the drug game in the first place. As the first 30 minutes of the Notorious tells us, young Chris Wallace came from a loving mother and possesses an academic intellect beyond his peers. It’s by no one’s decision but his own that he deliberately abandons all that for quick cash from the corners. What draws a sweet innocent kid into a life of crime? Money? Money’s just the means to an end. What Chris truly lusts for is the fashionable lifestyle of the rappers he idolize. During this brief period, Notorious scratches the surface of a tragic circle in which youth reverence for gangsta rap begets greed begets criminals begets gangsta rappers, and so on. The film is ignorant to its own insight, unfortunately, squarely moving on to Chris’ metamorphosis into the Notorious B.I.G.
Keeping the film afloat is Woolard’s own impressive embodiment of the character. His portrayal of Biggie is authentic yet palpable. Compared to him, even talented actors like Anthony Mackie and Derek Luke are less successful in making their Tupac and Puffy believable. Mostly, to be fair, due to their real life counterparts’ larger than life personalities. It is therefore surprising that the most human portrayal is Naturi Naughton as Lil’ Kim, who is shown as a woman both crushed and empowered by Biggie’s mistreatment of her.
The fact is, what makes Biggie truly unique is not his life story—it’s his music. Unfortunately, Notorious is not as interested in examining the impact of Biggie’s songs as it is in doing an interpretation of his Wikipedia entry, something that shouldn’t come as a surprise when you look at the two screenwriters responsible: Cheo Hodari Coker is a journalist and Biggie biographer, while Reggie Rock Bythewood is the man that blessed the world with Biker Boyz. Together, their take on Biggie’s life story is 122 minutes of role-playing, sensationalized by cheesy one-liners and wretched exposition courtesy of Biggie’s from-beyond-the-grave narration that never fails to spell out the thematic point of each pivotal moment from his 24 years on this earth.
Predictably, the film only gains momentum towards the end when the East Coast/West Coast rivalry heats up following Tupac’s first shooting, building up to the eventual murders of both Tupac and Biggie. Without a solid grasp of what really happened, the film skirts around expounding the incident in favor of blaming the media for escalating a simple misunderstanding. Even with such controversial real life deaths, Notorious' wrap-up manages to be bland. It ends the way you’d expect it to, with an uplifting celebration of Biggie’s music by his fans, even in death—but since the film does very little to convey why his music is so accepted other than spoonfeeding the idea that he’s a flawless genius rapper, the cheery ending comes across as hollow as the rest of this mundane biopic.
"Notorious" opens January 16, 2009 and is rated R. Biopic, Drama. Directed by George Tillman Jr. Written by Reggie Rock Bythewood, Cheo Hodari Coker. Starring Angela Bassett, Anthony Mackie, Antonique Smith, Derek Luke, Jamal Woolard, Naturi Naughton.
