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Aaaight, aaaight, so you knew this was comin'.... Last night was pretty dope for me as far as being a huge Biggie fan and movie connoisseur goes. I've always been extra critical of Hip-Hop film's and my critic's hat was definitely on while I peeped out the much anticipated biopic on one of the greatest emcee's to ever grace the stage or pick up a mic.
First order of business is that we must, absolutely, give Gravy AKA Jamal Woolard the man who was tapped to play Biggie a standing ovation. Gravy masterfully brought the Notorious one back to life on screen. From biggie's body movements while rhyming to his heavy breathing, thick Brooklynese accent and lovable, ultra suave demeanor, Woolard hit a home run, literally becoming Chris Wallace. Not bad for a "mixtape rapper" who up until this point was simply one of thousands of Brooklyn native's vying for a spot somewhere in the game. No doubt many of the critic's who were predicting the movie was doomed because of Woolard being cast to play Big are now sitting in a corner somewhere with their heads down, or at least they should be. I've been a fan of Gravy's since he was dropping mixtapes with Cutmaster C, callin' himself "Mayor Goonberg"....lol, great to see him show the world how talented he truly is...he earned every cent of that 4 million they paid him to take on the role.
While Gravy dazzled he wasn't alone in his surprisingly dope performance. Naturi Naughton, the caramel beauty fromerly of 3LW fame really broke out of her teeny bop shell as the second best performer in "Notorious". Recruited to play perhaps the raunchiest woman ever to rock a mic, Naughton seemed very much in her skin, and the chemistry between her and Woolard throughout the film was very plausible. It was her scenes rapping and onstage however that sealed her performance as noteworthy for me. She wasn't clumsy with her words, but rather very capable and she captured the Queen Bee's trademark brashness with a killer performance (pictured above).
While "Notorious" successfully shined the light on what I hope are two budding film stars in the making, it also totally missed in certain spots as well. The most glaring mistake clearly was the casting of Lil' Cease, who during the time period depicted, was in fact a young kid, but didn't have the appearance of a 14 year old. It was a sloppy choice, but the kid got through it, shirtless hype-manning and all. Another blunder was the under-achieving Tupac character, played by Anthony Mackie. At times Mackie had Pac's appearance down, but the overall performance he turned in was pretty generic and way too un-complicated. The same would have to apply to Derek luke who played Puffy. LOL, he nailed the dancing, but failed to sell me on that soft spoken and innate business acumen that Puff had during that time. The casting mishaps weren't over-bearing enough to make "Notorious" a failure however, and warm, entrancing roles like Angela Basset as Voletta Wallace and Antonique Smith as Faith Evans kept things interesting and true to life.
As any Biggie historian will attest, the format of the story could've been better, and more specifically, longer and finer detailed. There surely might be some qualms to come about the accuracy of certain events, namely what unfolded at the Quad Studios and the quasi-confrontation between Big and Pac. In any case, we all should remember the story was meant to highlight Big's life and how he achieved his giant dreams, not the bullshit that got in the way. Still, one can't help but to sort of feel like paramount themes and events were simply just glossed over. The writer's were selective about Big's duality as well. Showing that he'd sell drugs to a pregnant woman, but neglecting to show him puttin' diamonds in his baby girl's ear. They showed him hustling crack on Fulton street, but they didn't show that he also often held down a part time job at a local super market bagging groceries. They did thankfully, write in Big's tremendous lyrical wizardry and gift for performing, which added a lot to the film, especially in the street battle scene, where we all witness how his career was first born.
The head nodding movie score includes a myriad of Biggie's clasic's, that are logically placed everywhere and guaranteed to have you reciting lyric's throughout. We definitely missed Easy Mo Bee's inclusion on the score, but the run down of music that actually was included was solid nonetheless.
Everything sort of culminates with a scene at the end that shows what life could of been for Biggie before his untimely demise. He sits at his mother's kitchen table, new born baby son in his arms, surrounded by friends, laughing and making jokes. It was poignant and illustrated the things in life that Biggie's mom always wanted him to care about....the things that really matter. There wasn't a dry eye in the entire theater then or when Voletta takes her son's casket through that legendary procession back to Brooklyn, amongst a crowded street filled with mourning fans who start blasting "Hypnotize". So again, we're reminded of why he was the King Of New York, why he was Brooklyn and why we'll miss him forever. I'm truly happy that the overall spirit of Biggie's shined during the flick. He truly was one in million and the film dedicated to his life was unmistakably a four out of five star effort. Baby babe-ay!!
-BIG D O
