Notorious

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Notorious

R

2009

2h 2m

Biography

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

52%

Tomatometer

143 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Christopher Wallace parlays his gift for storytelling into a career as a rap artist. Eventually dubbing himself Biggie Smalls, then later, the Notorious B.I.G., Wallace's tales about violent street life take him to the top of the rap charts. The subject he so often raps about catches up with him in March 1997, when he is shot to death after leaving a party.

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Critics Consensus

A biopic that lacks the luster of its subject, Notorious is generic rise-and-fall fare that still functions as a primer for those less familiar with the work and life of the hip hop icon.

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Henry Barnes

Little White Lies

Feb 19, 2009

The inclusion of real-life footage and re-enacted YouTube clips is an interesting idea, but with each awkward stab at a new shooting style, Tillman Jr moves closer towards disgracing his subject with yet another hack job.

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Xan Brooks

Guardian

Feb 13, 2009

3/5

Now in blows the myth of the myth: a brashly entertaining biopic.

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Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Feb 13, 2009

2/5

This team have smoothed over the details of Biggie's rags-to-riches ascent, they haven't succeeded in making it terribly interesting.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Dec 15, 2023

2/4

Notorious spins a myth that portends to be a docudrama, which is a little insulting when there’s so much more informative and enlightening material out there on the rapper, his life, and especially the circumstances of his death.

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Sep 18, 2020

3.0/4.0

Woolard also performs much of the film's music.

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Leigh Paatsch

Herald Sun (Australia)

May 14, 2020

3/5

This so-bad-it's-actually-almost-brilliant biopic has an endearingly dodgy way of softening up hard facts.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 23, 2026

Notorious = a *3* star Movie!

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Blake- N

@PBSAniDom Apr 8, 2026

I thought Notorious was interesting overall. It does a good job capturing the life and rise of The Notorious B.I.G., and the performance from Jamal Woolard feels authentic and grounded. What stood out to me most was the music and how it’s used throughout the film—it really helps bring the story to life and adds energy to key moments. At the same time, the movie follows a pretty standard biopic structure, so it can feel predictable at times. Overall, I’d give it a 6/10—it’s engaging and worth watching for fans, but it doesn’t fully stand out beyond its subject matter.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Mar 3, 2026

Based on hip-hop artist The Notorious B.I.G.'s life and career in 2 hour and 2 minutes. The worldwide gross is $44,371,151.00 over a budget of $20,000,000.00. More than 2 times the costs in theaters.

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Ian F.

@thismeansguerra Nov 1, 2025

I love this for sentimental value

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MariofanAlex445 T

@RT47678067 Feb 7, 2025

I don’t know. I feel like they skipped a lot of time just so the film wouldn’t be that long. The guy who played biggie was ok I guess. This film won’t stick with me tbh. 2/5 stars.

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Mason H

@RT38681881 Dec 14, 2024

It’s a good movie I know people do not like this bio pic but I think it’s amazing it perfectly matches bigges real life and it makes sure to get its facts right. Casting it amazing and bigges actor fits the role perfectly.the only thing that bothers me is how short the scenes are as well as the dialogue. But yeah must watch if you like Bigge smalls.

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George Tillman Jr.

Director

Angela Bassett

Voletta Wallace

Derek Luke

Sean "Diddy" Combs

Jamal Woolard

Christopher Wallace

Anthony Mackie

Tupac Shakur

Antonique Smith

Faith Evans

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Synopsis

Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Christopher Wallace parlays his gift for storytelling into a career as a rap artist. Eventually dubbing himself Biggie Smalls, then later, the Notorious B.I.G., Wallace's tales about violent street life take him to the top of the rap charts. The subject he so often raps about catches up with him in March 1997, when he is shot to death after leaving a party.

Director: George Tillman Jr.
Producer: Voletta Wallace, Wayne Barrow, Mark Pitts, Robert Teitel, Trish Hofmann
Screenwriter: Cheo Hodari Coker, Reggie Rock Bythewood
Distributor: Fox
Production Co: Fox Searchlight
Rating: R (Drug Content|Dialogue|Nudity|Pervasive Language|Some Strong Sexuality)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 16, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $36.8M
Runtime: 2h 2m

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