The movie, directed by George Tillman Jr. based on a script by Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker, is most definitely not an authorized biography, but it is though less ambivalent, than some of Biggie’s own semi-autobiographical lyrics. The rapper’s mother, Voletta Wallace, and his friend Sean Combs are not only characters in the film but are also credited as producers. The result is a messy, lively melodrama, faithful to the facts of the rapper’s life. The problem with this story is that the filmmakers seem to forget to show why Wallace was such a unique talent and in what cultural context his raps flourished.

 

Biggie Smalls, one of several pseudonyms acquired by Christopher Wallace in the course of his short, brilliant career, put himself forward both as a fearless street truth-teller and as an outsize character as well.

 

The film starts with the mysterious and still unsolved murder of rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as Biggie Smalls or Notorious B.I.G. in 1997. The film shows Biggie, attempting to depict a cheater and drug dealer.

 

The main character is embodied from ages 8-13 as a nerdy schoolboy by the rapper’s own son, Christopher Jordan Wallace. His devoted mother, Voletta is impersonated by actress Angela Bassett. The critical relationship between Biggie and Sean Combs, played by Derek Luke is also presented in the movie, as well as his tempestuous pairings with singers Lil' Kim (Naturi Naughton) and Faith Evans (Antonique Smith), not to mention his soured friendship with Tupac Shakur embodied by Anthony Mackie.

 

The idea of the movie is probably that of showing the fact that the rapper was irresistible among his friends, in spite of all his transgressions as a human being, such as selling drugs to pregnant women, infidelity and violence against his wife Faith Evans or even letting a friend pay with three years in prison for a weapons charge in his name.

 

Jamal Woolard is a rapper who pushes hard against his limitations as an actor to be able to show Christopher Wallace as he was, a mama’s boy, a ladies’ man and a glowering criminal, as well as a high-living celebrity and a neighborhood character.

 

“Notorious” does not offer any clues or ideas about Biggie’s murder, which remained unsolved for more than 11 years. However, it tries to explain the East Coast-West Coast rivalry between Biggie's Bad Boy Records crew and Tupac Shakur's Death Row Records. That section and the scenes shot on Brooklyn's street corners are those that make the movie feel a little bit authentic.

The most noteworthy is the movie's powerful soundtrack. Wallace's music did more than make people dance, and it was more than an artful examination of "life on the streets." It surely meant something lasting to his fans.