“Notorious” tells the life story of one of the greatest rappers of all time, Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls, more commonly known the Notorious B.I.G.

Director George Tillman Jr. does a fantastic portrayal of the rapper’s life up to his traumatic death at 24 in 1997.

The movie opens with Biggie Smalls being gunned down as leaves a club in downtown Los Angeles.

Biggie had been there to promote his second album, Life After Death, which was to be released a few weeks later.

The movie then shows us events from Biggie’s childhood.

His name was Christopher Wallace, a straight-A student teased at school because he was “black, fat and ugly.”

Biggie’s real-life son, Christopher Jordan Wallace Jr, plays young Biggie quite ably.

As the story progresses and Biggies grows older, Jamal Woolard takes up the role.

He portrays him in a way that’s very genuine and easy to identify with, a just a regular guy who is trying to find his way in the world.

Biggie becomes a hustler and a drug dealer, which lands him in jail. He begins writing in journals, first as just sentences and then as rhyming poems.

It is then that Biggie realizes he wants to become a rapper.

But simply having a dream won’t pay the bills and when Biggie is finally released, he delves further into drug trafficking.

When Biggie and best friend Damion, or ‘D-Rock,’ played by Dennis L.A. White, get fingered for a gun crime, D-Rock takes the fall.

He tells Biggie that he has a chance to make it big and bring inspiration to other people on the streets, to get out of the hustling life and make something of themselves.

Biggie takes his advice and decides to turn his life around from a hustler to a devout father and successful rapper.

The story from there on out documents a lot of his personal life with Faith Evans (Antonique Smith) and rapper Lil’ Kim, played by former 3LW singer Naturi Naughton.

There are some somewhat gratuititous sex scenes which call to question the legitimacy of the director’s message.

The overall feel of the movie is more in keeping with documentary filmmaking than a work of fiction.

It even features a full account of the rap/hip-hop scene during the 1980s-1990s, most notably the big rap feud between East Coast and West Coast artists.

The movie’s message is that no dream is too big to achieve with perseverance and support from friends and family.

The music in the movie is mostly Biggie’s and gives it a very personal feel.

The movie, however, would make a lot more sense watched with prior knowledge of significant rappers such as Tupac (Anthony Mackie), Sean “P. Diddy” Combs (Derek Luke), Faith Evans and Lil’ Kim.

At times, having this background information is necessary to get the full meaning of Biggie’s life.

The filmmakers perhaps expect a bit too much from the audience at times, relying on background information that not everyone has.

This is an understandable challenge.

The life of Biggie was complicated and two hours isn’t nearly enough time to explore it in all its complexity.

Woolard puts on an outstanding performance as Biggie.

He does an exceptional job, especially considering that this is his first role in a major motion picture.

This industry newcomer has a bright future if this performance is any indicator.

If you’re a fan of Notorious B.I.G. and already somewhat familiar with his story, then this is definitely the movie for you.

If you’re new to the scene, maybe do some research before you shell out eight bucks for a movie ticket.