Notorious (2009)

Director:

George Tillman Jr.

Writers (WGA):

Reggie Rock Bythewood (written by) and
Cheo Hodari Coker (written by)

Release Date:

16 January 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

No dream is too big

Plot:

The life and death story of Notorious B.I.G. (a.k.a. Christopher Wallace), who came straight out of Brooklyn to take the world of rap music by storm.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Crack | Rap Music | Fame | Sexual Abuse

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Dec. 3	8:00 AM	MAX
Thur. Dec. 3	8:00 PM	MAX

Cast

Jamal Woolard	...	Christopher 'Biggie' Wallace
Mohamed Dione	...	Record Executive at Party
Derek Luke	...	Sean 'Puffy' Combs
Dennis L.A. White	...	Damion 'D-Roc' Butler
Marc John Jefferies	...	Lil Cease
Menyone DeVeaux	...	Hot Girl
Ginger Kroll	...	Debbie
Ricky Smith	...	Wally
Christopher Jordan Wallace	...	Biggie (age 8-13)
Amanda Christopher	...	Keisha
Angela Bassett	...	Voletta Wallace
Nina Daniels	...	Street Commentator
Jasper Briggs	...	Damion (age 8-13)
Cyrus Farmer	...	Selwyn
David Costabile	...	Mr. Webber

Also Known As:

Untitled Notorious B.I.G. Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language, some strong sexuality including dialogue, nudity, and for drug content.

Runtime:

122 min | 128 min (unrated director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Ireland:16 | UK:15 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R16 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:18 | Finland:K-15 | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB) | Netherlands:12 | USA:R (certificate #44759)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Trivia:

Rappers Beanie Sigel and Guerilla Black auditioned for the role of Biggie. Singer Sean Kingston also auditioned and publicly claimed he had gotten the role.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A 7th generation Honda Accord is shown in the movie, but 7th generation Honda Accords weren't in production until 2003.

Quotes:

Faith Evans: Are you a bad guy trying to be good, or a good guy trying to be bad?
Notorious B.I.G.: I'm just trying to make it big.

Movie Connections:

Features The 1995 Source Hip-Hop Music Awards (1995) (TV)

Big Poppa

NOTORIOUS is not just for fans of Biggie Small, or The Rap Music community. The film is primarily about any serious musician's quest to discover and nurture his artistic muse, and transform it into stardom. NOTORIOUS reiterates the classic Cinderella story of an artist who rises from nowhere and, against incredible odds, becomes loved and idolized by millions of fans. However, in the case of Brooklyn based rapper 'Notorious BIG'(Christopher Small), he becomes embroiled in a pointless and dangerous feud with certain West Coast Rappers. To me, it seems that the artists central to the controversy were too smart to really believe in this phony imbroglio, but they were pulled along by crazed fans, deluded managers and misdirected hangers-on. Much of Rap Music celebrates an extremely destructive and violent lifestyle, and it seems that certain fans are unable or unwilling to differentiate between artistic license and reality. If fans of pro-wrestling or NASCAR had such a worship of guns and gangs, they too might see their heroes cut down in their artistic prime. NOTORIOUS is a fairly standard bio-pic which tags all the bases, and contains some believable characterizations of real figures within the Rap community. We've all seen this kind of movie before, but NOTORIOUS attempts to examine a kind of stardom which is manifested and celebrated within a culture of violence and mayhem. However, the film fails to address the real question which is central to the life and death of 'Notorious BIG'. Is Rap music merely a reflection of violence within society, or does it somehow fan the flames of this aggressive hostility?