For a man apparently making his first film, Jamal Woolard carries the movie like a pro. Cross your fingers that this is no fluke, for this guy could be a real comer.
*Thinking about seeing the new flick 'Notorious' when it opens this weekend, but not really sure if you should. Well then, perhaps this review by the Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt will help you make up your mind.
When Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G., died in a hail of bullets in March 1997 at age 24, he left behind a compelling yet contradictory legacy as one of hip-hop's premier personalities.
So it is with "Notorious," a riveting but strangely elusive biopic that opens on Friday via Fox Searchlight.
The film brings aboard many of the key players from his life as producers but can't quite solve the mystery of who was "Biggie."
Nevertheless, this is the first gotta-see movie of 2009. It has terrific performances, a powerful soundtrack and eye-catching visuals. Normally, such a film will turn out hip-hoppers and its core audience. But Fox Searchlight knows how to market to a crossover crowd, so this might also be first hit film of 2009.
Jamal Woolard, a rapper who hails from near Biggie's old neighborhood and possesses his imposing size and swagger, is pleasingly sweet-natured and entirely credible as this overgrown kid who has a knack for translating a ghetto everyman's life and dreams into musical poetry. His girth makes him lean into characters' faces and into scenes at startling angles that feel intensely intimate.
For a man apparently making his first film, Woolard carries the movie like a pro. Cross your fingers that this is no fluke, for this guy could be a real comer.
For MORE of this Reuters/Hollywood Reporter review by Kirk Honeycutt, go HERE.