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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with DAN CARRIER
Published: 12 February 2009

Also on release this week

Notorious (15)

THIS bio-pic of the rapper Notorious B.I.G. starts at the end. Before you’ve settled into your seat, gunshots are pumped into a car and you know things are not cool.
From this violent start we are taken quickly through the development of the rapper as a musician, from his childhood in Brooklyn, where his mother struggled to keep him fed and clothed, to Biggie becoming involved with street gangs and drugs.
Essentially, far too much of this film is like a headache-inducing music video. Lacking charm and, more importantly, insight into the major influence he has had on rap, Biggie’s was an interesting story – it is just that rather than treat him as a fault-ridden but talented human being there is an air of reverence about the subject that detracts from the tragedy. Above all, for someone with such an gripping journey to chart, this film’s major failing is that it is simply a little boring.

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