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Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Amy Nicholson, Boxoffice Magazine: Kicks off with the usual rapper braggadocio of a childhood on the cutthroat street corners, then slyly cuts to a chubby A-student nerd known as "Chrissy-poo" to mom Voletta. Read more
Ben Lyons, At the Movies: For a hardcore fan of his music and his life, it rings true. Read more
David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Even if we miss the thinking that went into the creation of Wallace's B.I.G.-ger-than-life alter ego, the movie's performances are exultant. Read more
Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: This engrossing biopic, throbbing with style and attitude, will likely add to his legend. Read more
Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: The best thing about Notorious is its across-the-board, excellent cast, especially the soulful Woolard and Mackie's mesmerizing work as the complex Shakur. Read more
Nathan Rabin, AV Club: A great rapper deserves a great biopic, but B.I.G. fans will have to settle for this merely passable one. Read more
Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: If there's a guide book on how to create a standard rags-to-riches music biopic, the makers of Notorious must have memorized every page. Read more
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: An enjoyably ridiculous entertainment about a pursy young man with mysterious sex appeal who turns the rap world on its ear. Read more
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Notorious has a fine time along the way, with Woolard channeling the rapper's sweetness and wit as comfortably as his pathos. Read more
Joey Guerra, Houston Chronicle: A vivid biopic of the larger-than-life rap star that doesn't require you be a big fan of the genre. Read more
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Notorious, directed by George Tillman Jr. with a sentimental touch, seems torn. Read more
Adam Graham, Detroit News: Notorious is a game of dress-up, the Greatest Hits version of Biggie's life. But in the end, it fails to present a convincing argument of why we should care. Read more
Owen Gleiberman, 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 (often for the same reasons). Read more
Glenn Gamboa, Newsday: What really saves Notorious are the performances of rapper Jamal Woolard, who captures some of The Notorious B.I.G.'s playful charm, and newcomer Naturi Naughton, who dazzles early on as the fiery Lil' Kim. Read more
Allison Samuels, Newsweek: Watching Notorious was like attending a 10-year high-school reunion and reliving the good old days when the future seemed so bright. Read more
David Denby, New Yorker: The movie leaves us with the sense that, twelve years after Biggie Smalls's death, a lot of people are trying to extract whatever profit or pride they can from the chaotic life of a young man who was, as he well knew, a work in progress. Read more
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The script lets too much slide, and director George Tillman Jr. -- whose biggest films have been Soul Food and the Barbershop franchise -- abets it. Read more
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: It's unlikely there will be a better dramatization of the Biggie Smalls story than this one. Read more
Kyle Smith, New York Post: Closer to Scorsese than Scarface, Notorious gives a heartfelt yet clear-eyed sendoff to the late Brooklyn rapper Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls aka the Notorious B.I.G. Read more
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: George Tillman Jr.'s film may follow the well-worn path of many a musical biography. But spot-on casting, a light touch around the edges and affection for its subject makes this warts-and-all look at the big man with the big hits a winner. Read more
Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer: Notorious is an efficient biopic, and a celebratory exercise in nostalgia for hip-hop fans of a certain age. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: 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. Read more
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Notorious is surprisingly and pleasantly unflashy, a straightforward picture that makes a distinction between classiness and bling. Read more
Justin Berton, San Francisco Chronicle: It must have been an act of great restraint for Sean Combs to resist titling this film, about Chris Wallace, his close friend turned rapper and cultural icon, The Notorious B.I.G. -- The Sean Combs Story. Read more
Dana Stevens, Slate: The best way to remember Biggie Smalls is to listen to "Juicy" or "Things Done Changed" or any of the virtuosic autobiographical raps in which Christopher Wallace paints his own world with more immediacy and wit than Notorious ever manages to muster. Read more
Tom Horgen, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's as if the filmmakers didn't trust Woolard to carry the emotional weight of Wallace's story. They should have. Read more
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: This flick smoothes out the roughest edges, drains off the rawness and blandly retraces the narrative arc of every musical biopic since The Jazz Singer. Read more
Jason Anderson, Toronto Star: This tale of triumph and tragedy within hip hop's elite is intelligent, gripping and far less sensationalistic than anyone could have expected. Read more
David Fear, Time Out: Notorious delivers nothing but clumsy filmmaking and a greatest-hits checklist, without offering insight into the man or his myth. If you don't know now...you still won't know. Read more
Tom Huddlestone, Time Out: As mainstream hip hop becomes ever more predictable, so do the biopics about its stars. Read more
Claudia Puig, USA Today: Notorious is like a piece of well-crafted bling. It looks good, and facets of it shine, but behind the gilded facade there's not much there. Read more
John Anderson, Variety: A rock-solid biopic with a foolproof rise-and-fall storyline and a warmly nuanced performance by Jamal Woolard as iconic rapper Christopher Wallace. Read more
Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice: Just buy the records; that's the point of this infomercial anyhow. Read more
Chris Richards, Washington Post: Feels like Biggie's Wikipedia page reformatted for the big screen. Read more