Notorious

We may never find out who killed Tupac and Biggie, but whoever made this movie could be guilty of assassinating their memories and character.

Jamal Woolard stars as Christopher Wallace – the son of a single mother (Angela Bassett) who falls into the wrong crowd in Brooklyn. His mother tries very hard to raise Christopher to rise above all of the turmoil around him, but the call of the streets and its easy money are too much for the kid to resist. Yet, while he sells drugs to make some money, Christopher truly enjoys rapping and rhyming. Eventually, it might be his ticket out, if the rest of his life doesn’t destroy him.

Will this rapper who becomes Biggie Smalls be able to escape the violence of the streets and his own predilection for making the wrong decisions?

Fans who know the story of Biggie, Lil Kim, Puffy, Tupac and the East Coast vs. West Coast war will see all of the monumental moments played out on screen in Notorious, but director George Tillman Jr. and writers Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker would be better off painting the pictures of Biggie’s life instead of making a movie about it.

Tillman and company don’t go beyond the picture. Sure, they go through great effort to show us the famous images, but they fail to provide soul and depth. We don’t get deeper thought beyond highlighting the moments fans already know. Worst of all, they make Biggie come off like a big oaf.

In the scene where Biggie is on the phone with his wife, talking about the mother of his child, while another woman is in the background getting dressed after fooling around with him, you realize Notorious is not interested in covering up the warts of Biggie’s life. While that is commendable, Notorious is more cartoonish than dramatic.

Woolard, also known as Gravy, seems to be able to portray only one emotion – befuddled. He never shows the kind of screen presence and ferocity that a leading actor needs to capture our attention. Biggie ends up in situations, like that phone call I mentioned above, that come off as comical because Woolard is lost with no ability to make us take it seriously.

Notorious strictly is for fans.

Notorious is rated R for pervasive language, some strong sexuality including dialogue, nudity, and for drug content.