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4 stars out of 5 -- "As a biography interested in an honest swath of Wallace's life, NOTORIOUS' broad appeal will welcome and satiate both the devout and the curious..." 01/14/2009New York Times
"[R]easonably faithful to the facts of Biggie's life and wholeheartedly devoted to burnishing his myth." 01/16/2009 USA Today
"Most noteworthy is the movie's stunning cinematography and powerful soundtrack....The ensemble is solid, and Jamal Woolard is strong as Biggie." 01/16/2009 Los Angeles Times
"[L]ike Biggie, NOTORIOUS has fine time along the way, with Woolard channeling the rapper's sweetness and wit as comfortably as his pathos....Through it all are the rhymes and the music, hugely enjoyable in their own right..." 01/16/2008 Variety
"NOTORIOUS is a rock-solid biopic with a foolproof rise-and-fall storyline and a warmly nuanced performance by Jamal Woolard as iconic rapper Christopher Wallace -- aka Biggie Smalls..." 01/11/2009 Entertainment Weekly
"NOTORIOUS is a luridly unapologetic trip through the violence, hunger, verbal bravado, and money fever of the hip-hop world, which it views as both liberating and destructive....NOTORIOUS has a fascinating trajectory..." -- Grade: B 01/16/2009 Chicago Sun-Times
"NOTORIOUS is a good film in many ways, but its best achievement is the casting of Jamal Woolard..." 01/14/2009 Rolling Stone
"Woolard, a Brooklyn rapper known as Gravy, has not previous acting experience. Yet his portrayal amounts to a Biggie resurrection....He's a knockout." 02/05/2009 ReelViews 7 of 10
Last year, when I heard about a film on the way called Notorious, I was concerned that there would be an "updating" of Alfred Hitchcock's film of the same name. Thankfully, this is not the case. Notorious is not an example of a remake, but it is an example of a whitewash. A bio-pic of the influential '90s rapper Notorious B.I.G. a.ka. Biggie Smalls a.k.a. Christopher Wallace, Notorious purports to provide an intimate perspective of the iconic figure's life. Considering that his mother and close friend are listed among the co-producers and his son plays him as a child, one can safely assume this does not present an unbiased account of the facts. The film, directed by George Tillman Jr., effectively neuters any thuggishness in Biggie's character, leaving us with a protagonist who is essentially a good man guilty of having made some bad decisions...In the lead role, Jamal Wooldard is effective. He has the requisite physical presence although there are times when his acting shows signs of stiffness. When it comes to the rap scenes, however, he comes alive, shaking off any vestiges of woodenness like sawdust, and bringing Biggie boldly to life...In the final analysis, Notorious is a fairly standard rags-to-riches story, set in the world of rap music. A few of the notes may be different but the tune is familiar. While it provides us with a protagonist we can sympathize with, it does little to make the uneducated understand why Biggie was important and what his contribution was to rap beyond representing the face of the East Coast faction. There's a workmanlike quality to the movie and fans of the rapper will likely be pleased with (at a minimum) the soundtrack. For those who do not number themselves among the Notorious B.I.G.'s song-buying public, there's nothing about this production that makes it worth searching out. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
Documentaries about B.I.G. have focused on the final years of his life. "Notorious" tells us of a bright kid who was abandoned by his father, raised by a mother from Jamaica who laid down the rules and told the kids on the playground he would be famous some day. "You too fat, too black and too ugly," a girl tells him. He just looks at her. He is sweet-tempered, even after being seduced into the street-corner crack business, but he sounds tough in his rap songs -- tough, introspective, autobiographical and a gifted writer..."Notorious" is a good film in many ways, but its best achievement is the casting of Jamal Woolard, a rapper named Gravy, in the title role. He looks uncannily like the original, and Antonique Smith is a ringer for B.I.G.'s wife, singer Faith Evans. Woolard already knew how to perform, but took voice lessons for six months at Juilliard to master B.I.G.'s sound...He performs a lot of music in the film, all of it plot-driven, sure to become a best-selling soundtrack. As an actor, he conveys the singer's complex personality: a mother's boy, a womanizer, an artist who accepts career guidance from his managers, a sentimentalist, an ominous presence...George Tillman Jr. and his producing partner Robert Teitel are Chicagoans who have, together and separately, been involved in some of the best recent films about African-American and minority characters: "Nothing Like the Holidays," "Soul Food," "Men of Honor," both "Barbershop" pictures, "Beauty Shop." None of these films are sanctimonious, none preach, but in an unobtrusive way, they harbor positive convictions...In "Notorious," they show how talent can lift a kid up off the street corner, but can't protect him in a culture of violence. The whole gangsta rap posture was dangerous, as B.I.G. and Tupac proved. - Roger Ebert
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