“Notorious” is a biographical film who depicts the life of the hip hop star Notorious B.I.G. The role of the black singer is interpreted by actor Jamal Woolard, while the movie also features Angela Bassett, who plays Notorious’s mother, Voletta Wallace, Anthony Mackie as rap rival Tupac Shakur and Derek Luke as the singer’s manager, Sean Combs.
Other actors in the cast include Naturi Naughton as Lil' Kim and Antonique Smith as wife Faith Evans. Released on January 16, 2009, the movie has been already rated R for the bad language, the strong sexuality, nudity and drug content. A trailer for “Notorious” had been previously released in September 2008.
Jamal Woolard interprets a vulnerable and overgrown adolescent, while Smith plays a devoutly loyal wife and Lucas seems to be so glad of his new young discovery. But in the end, many of the critics consider that this might be the best story ever told about Notorious B.I.G.
The biopic of the movie was produced by Puff Diddy and Voletta Wallace with Faith Evans’ help so the lack of objectivity is understandable. Yet, Jamal Woolard was one of the actors who really fought to enter Biggie’s life and play as good as possible. Known as Gravy, a rapper who had previously tried to stage his own shooting as to boost his reputation, Woolard creates a real Notorious and he never disappoints.
So the plot could be resumed in a few words by saying that Voletta is a single mother who supports her kid whatever happens, but she just can’t keep him off the streets. But there comes the moment when Notorious can’t stand the bad jokes made on his weight, so he decides to sell drugs in his neighborhood.
His rhymes start to gain attention and he meets Combs, with whom he starts to work. Soon, Notorious becomes a superstar, marries Evans and keeps Lil’Kim as his girlfriend. But fights between the East Coast and West Coast artists become more and more serious.
As we know from Notorious’ real life, he released his debut album in 1994 and had created an influential wave of hip hop music in a New York dominated by West Coast artists. He soon founded the Junior M.A.F.I.A. group and started to become more and more involved in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud.
Yet, on March 9, 1997, Christopher Wallace was shot four times in the chest in Los Angeles. Even if his entourage took him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the hip hop singer was pronounced dead. 15 days later, his last album “Life after Death” was released and reached to be No. 1 hit in the United States album charts.
It’s sure that Notorious became a cultural icon due to his influence on music and this is the main reason for which a movie with his name is worth to be done and seen. Let’s hope to represent an almost perfect memory of the hip hop singer’s life.
