KWELI MOVIE REVIEW: Notorious

The movie Notorious has become a cultural phenomenon for us. Easy Mo thought he should score the film, Kim didn't like how she was portrayed, and the media is trying their best to convince us that there are shootings and stabbings everywhere the film is being played. On the other hand, Nore apologized to Lil Cease on Twitter about his beef with Junior Mafia after seeing the flick, and Juelz Santana bought out an entire 930 showing for the hood in Harlem last week.
With all the hype surrounding it, it's hard to give a good review. I see people dismissing it before they have seen it because of their lack of faith in Black filmmakers, and I have seen people ready to love everything about it because they lived through some of it. I am closer to the latter group. I used to work for Stress Entertainment, a company that Diddy threw his first big parties with. I've shared a blunt with Biggie and Tupac together. I remember getting promotional Big Macks and Total cereal boxes from the dudes with the Bad Boy windbreakers on. I'm an MC from Brooklyn, and I still be up in Quad from time to time. The story of Christopher and Voletta Wallace touched me on a personal level. I want my mom to see this movie.
As far as the movie, Gravy turned in an incredible performance. Acting is hard work, and for him to go from being up and coming rapper from Brooklyn who got shot in the ass to an actor of this caliber is impressive to say the least. A decent mimic could do Big's flow, but he nailed the mannerisms. As the story progresses you realize that Big was cold blooded at times and hard on the women, but Gravy plays him as what he was, a confused young man. Big was only 24 when he passed, living a lavish lifestyle. Who knows what kind of man he could have grown into given the opportunity? Naturi Naughton from 3LW fame also got it in, literally and figuratively. It is said that when and unknown actress shows as much flesh as this young lady did that she is dooming her career, like the Saved By the Bell chick did with Showgirls. However, Naturi had the Brooklyn essence down. Antonique Smith was a revelation as Faith Evans. The scene where she finds the white chick in bed at Big's hotel had girls in the audience standing up cheering.
Derek Luke and Anthony Mackie had to tackle the larger than life roles of Puff Daddy and Tupac Shakur, respectively. These are two of the the best young actors we have, and their performances were not imitations, but versions of these two great men. Derek Luke captured Puff's manic energy and drive, but it felt like I was watching a character inspired by Puff created by Derek. This was not a bad thing for me, and I think it takes real acting skills to do that. The same thing happened with Anthony Mackie. Although I did not feel like I was watching Pac, his Pac-like character fit the movie.
The film is not without it's problems. Narration should be left to Scrubs - I can already see what's happening on the screen. The film is executive produced by Diddy and Mrs. Wallace, so it showed Big's version of the Tupac beef, but there had to be more to it. The scene where Big wants to reach out to Pac and Puff stops him is the only thing we saw that addresses what Big's role in that situation was. In my opinion, that move is what deepened the rift. Marc John Jeffries may be a good kid, but he was miscast as Lil Cease. To see his tiny body on stage with a no shirt, a mic, fronts in his mouth and a blunt in his hand was the purest of unintentional comedy. I know Cease was little, but damn! However, even with these flaws, this is an inspirational story that even people who have never heard of Big can enjoy. And I can't front - the real footage of the funeral procession down Fulton Street brought a tear to my eye. We did it Brooklyn.