Notorious (2009 film)

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Notorious
Notoriousposter08.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by George Tillman, Jr.
Produced by Wayne Barrow
Edward Bates
Sean Combs
Trish Hofmann
George Paaswell
Mark Pitts
Robert Teitel
Voletta Wallace
Written by Reggie Rock Bythewood
Cheo Hodari Coker
Starring Angela Bassett
Derek Luke
Jamal Woolard
Anthony Mackie
Narrated by Jamal Woolard
Music by Danny Elfman
Cinematography Michael Grady
Edited by Dirk Westervelt
Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates
January 16, 2009
Running time 123 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $20 million
Box office $44,371,751[1]
Notorious is a 2009 American biographical film about the life and murder of Chri
stopher Wallace, an American rapper better known by the stage name The Notorious
B.I.G. The film stars Jamal Woolard as Wallace.
It was released in American theaters on January 16, 2009, by Fox Searchlight Pic
tures.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Production
2.1 Development
2.2 Casting
3 Cast
4 Reception
4.1 Critical reaction
4.2 Box office
4.3 Criticism by Lil' Kim
4.4 Comparison to actual events
5 DVD sales
6 Soundtrack
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
Plot[edit]
The film opens at a party in Los Angeles, California in March 1997, and shows th
e drive-by shooting of Biggie Smalls.
The film then flashes back to Biggie's younger years in Brooklyn, where Biggie (
now played by his biological son Christopher Wallace, Jr.) lived during his adol
escent years in 1983. Biggie, (now played by Jamal Woolard) sells drugs at the h
eight of the crack epidemic whilst hustling with his friends D-Roc (Dennis L.A.
White) and Lil' Cease (Marc John Jefferies).
When his girlfriend, Jan (Julia Pace Mitchell), informs him that she is pregnant
, he begins to take his drug dealing more seriously, "hustlin'" to make more mon
ey to support his upcoming child. Biggie eventually takes part in a rap battle,
which he subsequently wins, but Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace (Angela Bassett
), throws him out of the house after finding drugs underneath his bed.
Biggie gets caught in possession of weapons and cocaine, and is sentenced to two
years in jail but only serves nine months before making bail. Biggie meets Kim
Jones (Naturi Naughton) and they have sex but Kim refuses to pursue a relationsh
ip due to her abusive past. After reconciling with his mother visiting his newbo
rn child, Biggie records a demo called "Microphone Murderer" which catches the a
ttention of Puffy, an ambitious producer for Uptown Records. Puffy promises Bigg
ie a record deal but Biggie finds out that Puffy is no longer employed by Uptown
Records, which frustrates Biggie. Soon after, Biggie and D-Roc are again caught
with drugs, but D-Roc takes the fall for the both of them to allow Biggie to pu
rsue his rap career.
Biggie becomes depressed when he finds out Voletta is suffering from breast canc
er, but soon cheers up when Puffy signs him to Puffy's own record label, Bad Boy
Records, where Biggie records his first album, Ready to Die. At a Bad Boy photo
shoot, Biggie meets singer Faith Evans (Antonique Smith) and the two begin a re
lationship, eventually getting married. However, Faith catches Biggie cheating o
n her, and confronts him at his hotel room. The two later reconcile but the tens
ions between him, Faith, Jan, and Kim continue to grow.
Biggie begins a friendship with rapper Tupac Shakur (Anthony Mackie) whilst cele
brating the success of his album Ready To Die. With Tupac, Biggie soon starts ad
miring the other rapper, whilst also questioning him for the nefarious people he
associated with. When Tupac is robbed and shot five times in a robbery in the l
obby of Quad Studios, he blames Puffy, Biggie, and Bad Boy Records for setting h
im up. At The Source Awards in 1995, Death Row Records executive, Suge Knight, m
akes a speech "dissing" Puffy and Bad Boy Records, claiming Death Row is the bet
ter label.
After altercations between the pair, the disagreement escalates into the East-We
st Coast rivalry and attacks are made on both sides. At the 1996 Soul Train Awar
ds in Los Angeles, California, Biggie receives a death threat from an unknown bl
ack man in a call. At the afterparty, Tupac and Suge verbally assault Biggie, bu
t leave when Biggie's security threatens them with a pistol.
A track called "Who Shot Ya?" is later released by Biggie, which is interpreted
as a diss song directed at Tupac. Biggie and Puffy claim that "Who Shot Ya?" was
recorded before Tupac was shot, but Tupac responds with "Hit 'Em Up" where he d
isses Biggie and claims a sexual relationship with Faith Evans. After seeing a m
agazine photo of Tupac and Faith hugging each other, Biggie confronts Faith but
she insists nothing happened between her and Tupac.
The two attempt to reconcile after she tells him she's pregnant with his child a
s rivalry between the hip-hop coasts continues to escalate. Biggie goes on tour
in L.A. and the crowd boos him, throwing up West Coast signs to show they are si
ding with Tupac. Annoyed, Biggie performs "Who Shot Ya?", which enrages the crow
d even more. The rivalry between the two rappers continues until September 1996,
when Tupac is murdered in Las Vegas, Nevada. Voletta tells Biggie that Tupac wa
s probably killed as a result of their rivalry, which shakes him up. Biggie atte
mpts to ease the tensions in his life by visiting Jan and their daughter more of
ten.
Biggie and D-Roc renew their friendship after D-Roc is released from prison and
Biggie confides that he wants out of the rap game. However, Biggie decides to go
to Los Angeles to promote his upcoming album Life After Death, bringing D-Roc a
nd Lil' Cease with him along with Puffy and Faith. Whilst there, Biggie receives
several death threats. After calling Lil' Kim to apologize and to set up a meet
ing with her, the film returns to the opening scene, where Biggie is shot and ki
lled in a drive by.
His funeral is held a few days later, with friends and colleagues grieving at th
eir loss, along with hundreds of fans, who lined up to pay their respects. A mem
ber of the crowd turns on a radio which plays Biggie's song "Hypnotize" and the
crowd begins dancing as Biggie's casket is driven down the city's streets.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Antoine Fuqua was originally set to direct[2] before director George Tillman, Jr
. signed on to direct the project.[3] The film was distributed by Fox Searchligh
t Pictures.[4] Producers on Notorious include Sean Combs, Voletta Wallace and Bi
ggie's former managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts.[3]
Casting[edit]
In early October 2007, open casting calls for the role of The Notorious B.I.G. b
egan.[5] Actors, rappers and members of the public all participated. Rapper Bean
ie Sigel auditioned[6] for the role but was not picked.[7] Eventually it was ann
ounced that rapper Jamal Woolard was cast as Biggie.[8] Other cast members inclu
de Angela Bassett as Voletta Wallace, Derek Luke as Sean Combs, Antonique Smith
as Faith Evans, Naturi Naughton formerly of 3LW as Lil' Kim, Dennis L.A. White a
s D-Roc and Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur.[9]
Cast[edit]
Jamal Woolard as Christopher Wallace/The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher Wallace, Jr. as young Christopher Wallace
Angela Bassett as Voletta Wallace
Derek Luke as Sean Combs
Marc John Jefferies as Lil' Cease
Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur
Naturi Naughton as Lil' Kim
Antonique Smith as Faith Evans
Kevin Phillips as Mark Pitts
Julia Pace Mitchell as Jan
Dennis L.A. White as Damion 'D-Roc' Butler
Sean Ringgold as Suge Knight
Anwan Glover as Snoop Dogg[10](Bonus Scene)
Reception[edit]
Critical reaction[edit]
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes noted that 50% of
film reviewers gave the film a positive review based on a sample of 131 reviews,
with an average score of 5.5/10 indicating "Rotten" reviews. Rotten Tomatoes' c
onsensus is that Notorious is "a biopic that lacks the luster of its subject" an
d a "generic rise-and-fall fare that still functions as a primer for those less
familiar with the work and life of the hip hop icon."[11]
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from main
stream critics, the film received a 61 based on a sample of 31 critics, indicati
ng "Generally favorable reviews."[12] Roger Ebert gave the film 3 1/2 stars (out
of four), applauding the film focusing on Christopher Wallace and not his rappi
ng persona.
Box office[edit]
The film was released on January 16, 2009 and grossed $24,000,000 on its opening
weekend in 1,638 theaters in the United States on Martin Luther King weekend.[1
] As of April 2, 2009, the film has grossed $36,843,682 in the United States alo
ne and $6,207,865 internationally to bring the overall total to over $43,051,547
.[13]
Criticism by Lil' Kim[edit]
Lil' Kim was not happy about how she was portrayed in the film, saying "Regardle
ss of the many lies in the movie and false portrayal of me to help carry a story
line through, I will still continue to carry his legacy through my hard work an
d music." She felt the producers were more interested in her "character" than he
r. Lil' Kim scenes in the film contained a lot of nudity and sexuality.[14] The
film's producers, including Voletta Wallace, downplayed her comments.[15]
Comparison to actual events[edit]
In the scene where Biggie and Puffy meet for the first time, Biggie gives his ag
e as 19. That is correct, as the two men met in early 1992. But during that meet
ing, Puffy talks about the West Coast's dominance of hip-hop, saying, "They got
Snoop, they got Dre, they got Cube, they killin' it. The East Coast is just look
in' for someone to fill that void." At the time, Dr. Dre was known mainly as a m
ember of N.W.A. and would not release his first solo album, The Chronic, until D
ecember of that year.
Snoop Dogg was also not widely known until his appearance on The Chronic, althou
gh he did appear with Dre on the Deep Cover soundtrack in 1992. At the time of B
iggie and Puffy's first meeting, it is unlikely that anyone would have cited Dr.
Dre and Snoop Dogg as major players in West Coast hip-hop.
Also, there is a scene involving Biggie being kicked out of class, and meeting h
is girlfriend in a restaurant, where his girlfriend, Jan, says she's pregnant wi
th Biggie's daughter in 1990, and born by the time Biggie is released from jail.
In real life, Biggie's daughter, T'yanna, was born in August 1993, nine months
after her father was locked up.
Also, a subtitle states October 1990, so Biggie would be 18 and later he does th
e rap battle. This is wrong, because he did the rap battle when he was 17 and it
was in 1989. Also there are advertisements for the film Juice which was release
d in 1992.
The lyrics in Biggie's rap battle were changed in the movie from the original fi
lmed in 1989, which surfaced on the internet in 2008.
DVD sales[edit]
Notorious was released on DVD on April 21, 2009. About 858,000 DVD units have be
en sold, bringing in $19.5 million in revenue, bringing the films total gross to
$100 million.[16]
Soundtrack[edit]
Main article: Notorious (soundtrack)
A 17-track soundtrack album was released to accompany the film, although only ei
ght of its tracks feature in the movie. The following tracks which Christopher W
allace Jr. had input on feature in the movie:
"Born Again" (Intro)
"Hypnotize"
"Going Back to Cali"
"Ten Crack Commandments"
"Bed Stuy Brooklyn" (the film credits list this as the title, although the track
appears on the soundtrack under the name "Guaranteed Raw")
"Suicidal Thoughts"
"Everyday Struggle"
"It's a Demo" (the film credits list this as the title, although the track appea
rs on the soundtrack under the name "Microphone Murderer")
"Pimps & Macs"
"Party & Bullshit"
"Machine Gun Funk"
"Unbelievable"
"Juicy"
"Flava in Ya Ear"
"Big Poppa"
"Warning"
"I Love the Dough"
"Get Money"
"Gimme the Loot"
"Who Shot Ya?"
"Sky's the Limit"
See also[edit]
Portal icon film portal
List of American films of 2009
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b "Notorious (2009)". Box Office Mojo. 209-02-01. Retrieved 2009
-02-01.
Jump up ^ Kym Balthazar (February 26, 2007) 360 We Gon' Make It XXL. Accessed No
vember 28, 2007.
^ Jump up to: a b Director Selected for Biggie Biopic, Diddy to Executive Produc
e XXL (August 13, 2007). Accessed November 28, 2007.
Jump up ^ http://content.foxsearchlight.com/inside/node/2549 at Fox Searchlight
Pictures. Retrieved on 2009-01-16.
Jump up ^ Melena Ryzik (October 8, 2007) Dreaming Big About Acting Big NY Times.
Accessed November 28, 2007.
Jump up ^ Beanie Sigel Auditions for Role of Biggie Smalls in New Biopic XXL (Oc
tober 3, 2007). Accessed November 28, 2007.
Jump up ^ Sean Kingston: Big, But Not B.I.G. Vibe (August 30, 2007). Accessed No
vember 28, 2007.
Jump up ^ Brooklyn Rapper Gravy to Play Biggie in Upcoming Biopic XXL (March 6,
2008). Accessed March 6, 2008.
Jump up ^ Gravy for Biggie Joblo.com (March 6, 2008). Accessed March 6, 2008.
Jump up ^ Snoop Dogg at Source Awards
Jump up ^ Notorious Movie Reviews, Pictures. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2010-12-
25.
Jump up ^ Notorious Reviews, Ratings, Credits. Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
Jump up ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=notorious08.htm
Jump up ^ TV Guide
Jump up ^ AP Press Statement Video on YouTube
Jump up ^ http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2009/NOBIG-DVD.php
External links[edit]
Official website
Notorious at the Internet Movie Database
Notorious at AllMovie
Notorious at Rotten Tomatoes
Notorious at Metacritic
Notorious at Box Office Mojo
[show] v t e
Films directed by George Tillman, Jr.
[show] v t e
The Notorious B.I.G.
Categories: 2009 filmsEnglish-language filmsAmerican biographical films2000s dra
ma filmsAmerican musical drama filmsBiographical films about entertainersFilms b
ased on biographiesFilms set in BrooklynFilms set in New York CityFilms set in t
he 1980sFilms set in the 1990sFilms shot in New York CityFox Searchlight Picture
s filmsHip hop filmsHood filmsMusical films based on actual eventsFilms directed
by George Tillman, Jr.Film scores by Danny Elfman
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