I had heard good things about the Chris "Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls" Wallace bio pic Notorious, but sadly it didn't live up to expectations. I'm not, in any way you look at it, an expert or even a connoisseur of hip hip culture but I picked up the movie because I really dug the Tupac Shakur documentary Tupac: Resurrection and was expecting something of the same with this pic. But it's vastly different. It's not a doc but rather a movie movie trying (and failing) to recreate how a black youth surrounded by the shit culture of drugs and violence rises to become a musical icon. This pic just isn't made very well, though, and the story is uneven, and ultimately to succeed, aren't I supposed to feel sympathy for the main character or at least understand him? You can argue I just wouldn't sympathize 'cause I'm a white boy but that doesn't improve a crappy screenplay and uneven pacing.
I thought about not commenting on this but here it goes: I'm really disgusted by obese people. And Biggie was definitely obese. I can hear it in his songs and whenever he breathes; it's gross and really turns me off from his music.
Music king or burger king?
So I didn't have that on my side while watching the movie. Of course the actor playing Biggie is fat too, but I don't think I wasn't feeling any kind of sympathy in part because of his weight issues, it had so much more to do with all these choices he had and not being a fan of what he eventually would settle on. Much like Tupac, he grew up in a home where a parent pushed education; Tupac's mom is a PhD and Biggie's mom, played by the usually brilliant Angela Bassett though even her performance falls flat, spends much of her time loving and lecturing him about smart choices. Bigs chose drugs, though, and had opportunities with his music, and still choose drugs, made bad decisions, etc. For a while there he actually was a neighborhood drug kingpin and, as highlighted in the film, sells crack to a pregnant lady and quips that it's only business. Oh, but don't worry faithful viewers, we see that same crackhead lady a few years later happily playing with her child after Biggie makes it big and one of his friends says something like "hey, look at her, wasn't she a crackhead?" Well, not no more, right, cause that's what always happens. And as far as his life, c'mon, you can blame the neighborhood and the culture only up to a certain point. After that, man up, take your talent and turn it into something more.
Anyway, that's about all I got on this movie. Part of me thinks it was highly influenced by artists who are still around that are featured in this biopic. Most notably, Puffy Combs and Lil Kim. How much influence did they have in the crafty of this story and how far into the truth were the filmmakers allowed to go. Of course it doesn't paint either of them in any kind of negative light at all, especially Puffy, what with his yellow turtlenecks and lectures to stay away from drugs and all. It just seemed a little to "clean" for my tastes. But then again what do I know?
No comments:
Post a Comment