Notorious (2009)

This came so close to being a really good movie, we wondered why it wasn't. One reason was that a half hour should have been trimmed here and there from the 2:02 running time. In the trailer, Faith Evans (Antonique Smith) asked Christopher Wallace (AKA Biggie Smalls AKA Notorious B.I.G., played by Jamal Woolard) if he was a "good boy trying to be bad or a bad boy trying to be good?" This was the central dilemma of the script, never resolved, despite, or maybe because of, the producing involvement of Christopher's mother Voletta Wallace (played in the movie by a tightly wound Angela Bassett). Was it the writing, the mom producing, or the lead actor (Woolard is a Brooklyn-based rapper called Gravy, and up til now was best known for being shot in the rear end in 2006)? That being said, the movie had a lot of entertainment value. The reliable Derek Luke (Pieces of April (2003), Miracle at St. Anna (2008), and his breakthrough role in 2002, Antwone Fisher, which I didn't see) lit up the screen as Sean Combs, as did Bassett and Anthony Mackie (the lead in Spike Lee's She Hate Me (2004) and a small part in the excellent indie Half Nelson (2006), among others) as the mercurial Tupac Shakur. If you want to know if the details of Biggie's short life (1972-1997) were presented correctly, ask someone else. But the music and costumes were fun, and most of the drama compelling. Also, the young Chris was played by Christopher Jordan (CJ) Wallace, now 12, Biggie and Faith's real-life son.