Tagline: “The greatest rapper of all time … a visionary of the hip-hop world. He was adored by millions.â€
Translation: And he’ll be portrayed here by some dude who got shot in the ass.
The Verdict: The first full trailer for the upcoming Notorious B.I.G. biopic runs through the whole tale, actually making it seem kind of exciting: from adorable lil’ Biggie rapping to himself to various drug busts to meetings with Puff to Faith Evans’s knocking some chick out. There’s some awkward telegraphing (“Maybe in the right hands, I can be one of the greatest!â€), but the trailer does help answer the No. 1 question on fans’ minds: Can Gravy, a sure look-alike in his very first real role, actually act? Looks like he can, maybe! From the little dialogue we see here — mostly from hungry, ascendant Biggie — Gravy looks like he manages to capture the right combination of charming, cocky, and pensive. And now we move on to everyone’s No. 2 question, one posed by Angela Bassett here: “What kind of grown-ass man calls himself Puffy?â€