Notorious

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Chris Rock pretty much hit the nail on the head when he spewed: "I like Tupac, and I love Biggie... But school gonna be open on their birthday." In other words, these guys were talented rappers, but hardly the Martin Luther King's of their time. Although, at points, you'd be forgiven for thinking that, as this Sean "Puffy" Combs produced biopic paints the corpulent rapper as a thoughtful, talented sort, who started dealing crack because of abandonment issues. With the exception of one scene where he deals crack to a pregnant woman, everything else screams: "I'm misunderstood." Starting off slowly, with clunky dialogue and choppy pacing, it soon comes into its own when exploring the conflict of the east and west coast rappers; or, most notably, the collapse of Biggies' relationship with Tupac - which would ultimately lead to the demise of both men in their mid-20's. It's an often clichéd look at the hood that, while always dangerous, never fully exudes that feeling, resulting in a lack of immediacy that makes the earlier scenes feel very much by-the-numbers. That said, the elongated introduction, however unlikely, does lead onto something more entertaining. As soon as the rap performances start, the film really comes to life, and Tillman throws every editing trick in the book to make all of these numbers feel like a slick music video. Woolard does bare a resemblance to the titular rapper, and he is at his strongest during the film's lighter moments - showing a charisma that ultimately leads to Biggie getting laid more than a polygamist cult leader at a swingers party. The talented Derek Luke is fine as Puff Daddy, but you get the feeling that a more believable portrayal of the man would've happened in a movie that didn't have his name above the title. Fans of The Notorious BIG will lap all of this up, but those looking for a more balanced look would do better checking out Nick Bloomfield's documentary Biggie and Tupac.