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Notorious

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Notorious (2009)

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Reviews Counted:130

Fresh:65

Rotten:65

Average Rating:5.5/10

Consensus: A biopic that lacks the luster of its subject, Notorious is 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.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for pervasive language, some strong sexuality including dialogue, nudity, and for drug content.

Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Jan 16, 2009 Wide

Box Office: $36,652,959

Synopsis: The dramatic retelling of the life, improbable rise, and violent fall of rapper Christopher Wallace (aka the Notorious B.I.G.), NOTORIOUS plays like A STAR IS BORN set to a rattling gangsta snare.... The dramatic retelling of the life, improbable rise, and violent fall of rapper Christopher Wallace (aka the Notorious B.I.G.), NOTORIOUS plays like A STAR IS BORN set to a rattling gangsta snare. With crisp direction by George Tillman Jr., producer of the BARBERSHOP series, the film is briskly paced and strikes a worthy balance between sensationalized celebrity biopic and behind-the-scenes drama. Angela Bassett anchors the latter with a nuanced performance as Voletta, Wallace’s long-suffering single mother who attempts to shelter him from the mean streets of Bed-Stuy. With deep involvement by those who knew him best--the real Voletta Wallace and Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs (played dynamically by Derek Luke) co-produced--the film nonetheless unflinchingly portrays Biggie’s troubled history as a teenage crack dealer, his chronic infidelity and poor fathering skills, and his own role in stoking the ludicrous coastal rivalry that claimed both his and Tupac Shakur’s lives. As it presents Biggie's side of the murders in boldface, one wonders if a more independent eye would cast Shakur and his cohorts in the villain role so starkly. Documentary quibbles aside, NOTORIOUS delivers an impactful tribute to its subject's genius--revealing to fans and neophytes alike the microphone skills, narrative chops, and fresh vision that made Wallace one of hip-hop’s greatest all-time MCs. Largely, this is due to the ace performance by Jamal Woolard, an amateur rapper who packed on 50 pounds to play the hulking gangsta, and nails his mordant charisma and conflicted inner life with a star turn every bit as on point as Jamie Foxx’s Ray Charles or Val Kilmer’s Jim Morrison. [More]

Starring: Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie

Starring: Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie, Antonique Smith, Naturi Naughton, Dennis White, Julia Pace Mitchell

Director: George Tillman

Director: George Tillman
Screenwriter: Cheo Hodari Coker, Reggie Rock Bythewood
Producer: Voletta Wallace, Wayne Barrow, Mark Pitts, Bob Teitel, Trish Hofmann
Composer: Danny Elfman
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Apr 21, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • 2-Disc Set
  • Region 1
  • NTSC
  • Note: This Release Features Both the Widescreen Theatrical Feature and Unrated Director's Cut Versions of NOTORIOUS
  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.40

Audio:

  • DTS Surround 5.1 - English
  • Subtitles - English, French, Spanish
  • Disc 1: NOTORIOUS

Additional Release Material:

  • Trailers: Forced Trailer: WOLVERINE Theatrical Trailer, VALKYRIE, S.DARKO, THE WRESTLER, SETH MACFARLANE'S CAVALCADE OF CARTOON COMEDY

Audio Commentary:

  • 1. Director George Tillman, Jr., Co-writers Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker and Editor Dirk Westervelt
  • 2. Co-Manager/Producer Wayne Barrow and Biggies Mom/Producer Voletta Wallace
  • Disc 2: Additional Features

Additional Release Material:

  • Deleted Scenes: 9 Deleted Scenes
  • Behind the Scenes: Making of NOTORIOUS
  • Trailers: Trailer Farm: SECRET LIFE OF BEES, GOSPEL HILL, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Featurette:

  • 1. I Got a Story to Tell: The Lyrics of Biggie Smalls
  • 2. Notorious Thugs:Casting the Film
  • 3. Biggie Boot Camp
  • 4. Anatomy of a B.I.G. Performance
  • 5. Party and Bullshit (Never Before Seen Footage)
  • Disc 3: NOTORIOUS Digital Copy
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Notorious

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
10/22/09
Film Threat

Though it never quite devolves into pure hagiography, the film's central tale of crack dealer made good is sometimes a little too hokey for its own good.

Full Review Source: Washington Times | comment Comment
08/30/09
Sonny Bunch
Sonny Bunch
Washington Times
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
08/19/09
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Notorious is a tribute the rapper's contribution to pop culture.

Full Review Source: BET.com | comment Comment
07/07/09
Clay Cane
Clay Cane
BET.com

You've heard of laundering money? Well, this film biography of rapper Notorious B.I.G. has all the earmarks of--not monetary but morality cleansing.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment 1 Comment
04/21/09
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

While it's now less a case of race than class in black film, Notorious seems to still be taking tabloid cues more from alien ghetto underclass drama and what's come before, rather than bringing new and improved insight to the table beyond the cool music.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment 1 Comment
04/11/09
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

[An] intermittently entertaining but thoroughly conventional Biggie biopic.

Full Review Source: Critic's Notebook | comment Comment
03/13/09
Robert Levin
Robert Levin
Critic's Notebook

What might have been an African-American gangland epic with a killer soundtrack treads safely as a run-of-the-mill biopic.

Full Review Source: MovieTime, ABC Radio National | comment Comment
03/13/09
Jason Di Rosso
Jason Di Rosso
MovieTime, ABC Radio National

Notorious is a pretty standard biopic, and is probably largely compromised. If you've never seen Nick Broomfield's excellent 2002 doco Biggie And Tupac, you'd be better served hunting that down instead.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
03/13/09
Mark Demetrius
Mark Demetrius
FILMINK (Australia)

While the script provides ample illustrations of Wallace's tough life, there is not enough focus on what set the recording star apart from his peers or why he became so incredibly popular so quickly.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia) | comment Comment
03/13/09
Des Partridge
Des Partridge
Daily Telegraph (Australia)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
03/06/09
Urban Cinefile

A big, bad bundle of biopic cliches, a glitzy whitewash filled with wince-inducing dialogue and propelled by a smug, from-beyond-the-grave voiceover.

Full Review Source: Miss FlickChick | comment Comment
03/02/09
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
Miss FlickChick

Like Violet Kray producing a film about her twin sons. The movie doesn't ignore its subject's shortcomings, but it sentimentalises them and becomes increasingly incoherent as it proceeds.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
02/19/09
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

The inclusion of real-life footage and re-enacted YouTube clips is an interesting idea, but with each awkward stab at a new shooting style, Tillman Jr moves closer towards disgracing his subject with yet another hack job.

Full Review Source: Little White Lies | comment Comment
02/19/09
Henry Barnes
Henry Barnes
Little White Lies

A swaggering delve into the life of the biggest of all rappers.

Full Review Source: Sunday Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
02/19/09
Mark Adams
Mark Adams
Sunday Mirror [UK]

It isn’t the most subtle movie, with characters constantly spelling out the big message – in order to change the world, you first have to change yourself.

Full Review Source: Daily Express | comment Comment
02/19/09
Allan Hunter
Allan Hunter
Daily Express

A hagiographical whitewash.

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment Comment
02/13/09
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
thelondonpaper

Now in blows the myth of the myth: a brashly entertaining biopic.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
02/13/09
Xan Brooks
Xan Brooks
Guardian [UK]

This team have smoothed over the details of Biggie's rags-to-riches ascent, they haven't succeeded in making it terribly interesting.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
02/13/09
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph

This film by George Tillman Jr is less about the street politics and more about the slushy soap opera going on at home.

Full Review Source: Digital Spy | comment Comment
02/13/09
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
Digital Spy
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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all

Latest News for Notorious

January 30, 2009: While it's now less a case of race than class in black film, Notorious seems to still be taking tabloid cues more from alien ghetto underclass drama and what's come before, rather than bringing new and improved insight to the table beyond the cool music. Opens in new window
More...

January 29, 2009: Notorious Writer Is Tougher Than Leather Opens in new window
"Notorious" screenwriter Cheo Hodari Coker has picked up a similar project: the film adaptation of Bill Adler's "Tougher Than Leather: The Rise of Run-DMC -- The Authorized... More...

January 22, 2009: A relentlessly-unapologetic immorality play about a bona fide ghetto gangsta' apt to entertain even Joe Six-Pack. Opens in new window
More...

January 19, 2009: Box Office Guru Wrapup: Paul Blart Segways Ahead of the Competition
This weekend the North American box office was on fire once again as four new releases all scored muscular debuts helping to drive the marketplace to the biggest January weekend... More...

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