‘Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell': A Somewhat Underwhelming Netflix Doc on The Notorious B.I.G [Review]

Four years in the making, here’s the most essential Notorious B.I.G documentary that exists right now and it hasn’t even been released yet. Netflix unveiled the trailer for “Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell” last night, it’ll be available to stream on March 1st, , but I managed to get a sneak peek.

The story of The Notorious B.I.G. has been told multiple times, but this estate-approved documentary on the legendary rapper (also known as Christopher Wallace) was executive-produced by Wallace’s mother Voletta and Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, both are extensively interviewed in the film.

‘I Got a Story to Tell’ is directed and edited with real flair by Emmett Malloy. Much of the film is derived from archival footage shot by Biggie’s childhood friend Damian “D Roc” Butler. The intimate footage reveals a softer side to Biggie, one we hadn’t necessarily seen before. Butler’s home movies facilitate a narrative that spans three decades, Brooklyn from the 70s through the 90s. It smoothly lays out the ups and downs of Biggie’s life, using almost exclusively archival footage, in ways that recall other posthumous docs such as “Amy” and “Montage of Heck.”

Although not as artfully rendered as the docs I just mentioned, Big’s humble beginnings in Brooklyn, where he sold drugs and was involved in criminal activity just to provide for his daughter, are rendered in refreshingly unbiased ways. The main point that comes across here are the parallels between Wallace’s life and being a young black man in the America. A lot hasn’t changed. Mama Wallace struggled to make ends meet working as a school teacher from 9-5 while, unbeknownst to her, Chris was out hustling in the streets, dealing crack to provide for his daughter. It’s only when he meets Puff Daddy that he realizes he may have a way out of the streets.

And then, his sudden, meteoric rise to fame as one of the most talented hip-hop artists to ever live.What made Biggie so good? The immaculate combination of word play and, especially, flow in his freestyles. That’s what got him inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this past November on what would have been his 50th birthday.

It plays out like a story with a rapid rise to fame and then a tragic end because, well, that’s how it happened. Wallace was in the middle of recording only his second album when he got caught up in a East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud. Was he responsible for Tupac Shakur’s death? Obviously, the film’s talking heads flat-out deny it, much like Wallace denies it on video. Regardless, the West-Coast rappers believed Biggie called the hit on Shakur and retaliated by killing him when he visited California.

Although this is the most complete accounting of Biggie’s life to date, and the most consistent attempt at trying to delve into the mind of Christopher Wallace, it is still a one-sided view of his life. And that’s ok. Told by those who knew him best, the visual information is second-to-none. It turns out, the most fascinating accounts come from his own mother, Voletta, a strong-headed character who doesn’t mince words when describing her son’s turbulent drug dealing days. In a shattering scene, she reveals how she felt, years after her son’s death, learning that he was bringing crack into the house and thinking it was just expired mashed potatoes.

The access Malloy has with this film, the intimate stories he gathers up, the archives he digs up, make ‘I got a Story to Tell’ a much worthier watch than 2009’s “Notorious,” which barely understood the hip-hop world it was depicting.

SCORE: B-