Notorious B.I.G is arguably the greatest rapper of time. So it comes as no surprise that his life would be retold in a biopic, 2009 film NOTORIOUS. The film chronicles Christopher Wallace’s transition from school boy to rap legend. Overall, I thought the film was well made. However, there is one major misstep in acting. And her name is Angela Bassett.
She’s been in countless movies before and she always sometimes is expected to give a moving performance. In NOTORIOUS, she doesn’t really do anything special in her short screen time. Still, I would be able to overlook her performance if she would have done one thing: Speak with a Jamaican Accent!!
Angela plays Biggie’s mom, Ms. Voletta Wallace – that (like every true fan knows) speaks with an accent. Along with her lifestyle, Ms. Wallace’s speech reflects her culture, her home, and is a huge contrast from the traditional life in Brooklyn in the late ‘70s. Without the accent, this integral piece of authenticity is lost in the film.For me, Angela’s unaccented portrayal was not only surprising, it was disappointing. The other actors went the extra mile to accurately recreate the experience: Derek Luke learned choreography to dance like Diddy! Even Naturi worked long nights at Hunts Point to research Lil’ Kim’s character (kidding!). Seriously though, refraining from the accent takes away from the authenticity of her character.
Imagine if they casted some well-known actor* to in the lead role and he sounded sounding like B.I.G.? Totally ruins the movie the movie. Star-power or not.
Maybe I’m just rambling on about a minute topic, but, there’s not much else to go on. The movie is a recreation of events that we could have thought of ourselves. Yet, what else could we expect from filmmakers (and contributors) who were determined to justify Biggie’s wrongs as he becomes a saint in his last days because of the murder of his best friend, Tupac. And by this realization, I can’t be mad. All in all, NOTORIOUS is a feature length film about the Notorious B.I.G.
And we’ll always love Big Poppa.
*No one could fit the role. No pun intended.
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3 comments:
dont nobody care about her accent except you, sean paul, beenie man, and shabba ranks
The accent bothered me too! I was telling my friend about that the other day..I was like, "Angela Bassett always does a good job in her movies, but I know she could've pulled that accent off though!" LOL!!! I liked the movie, but it could've been a lot better. If Spike or John Singleton would've got a piece of that movie, it would've been over. That movie would've been classic. I enjoyed the movie, however and it took me back!!! Man, I miss the '90's!!!
I really liked the movie overall but also like Biggie's mom they could have done better with Tupac's character too
There really just was no one like Biggie
and you are so wrong for that Naturi joke, lol!
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