*Semi-spoilers herein*
I didn't know what to expect when watching this film. Nick Broomfield gave quite a performance. Moving through ghettos, neighborhoods, and prisons, he provides us the audience with the most complete summary of the murder of Rap's two biggest stars, along with the course of events that brought them to be enemies.
At the film's onset, Nick looks quite out of place with his haggard dress (usually jeans/t-shirt combo) and thick English accent. Expect Shakur's first name to be pronounced 'Tew-Pack'. He looks blatantly out of place interviewing mostly African-American people for information regarding both murders. You have to admire his courage to look in places most people wouldn't dare. It genuinely seems like he wants to find and expose the truth about both killings.
Broomfield beats the bushes, trying to get a hold of everybody, and I mean everybody he can that knows something about the two cases. What he finds is frightening. Expected, but frightening. Nearly every informant and interviewee corroborates each other's story, including retired LAPD Det. Russell Poole. The flaw with Poole was Broomfield's boasts that it was quite a monumental achievement to get Poole to talk about the case. Poole has given many interviews, recently to VH1's Behind the Music regarding the case. It seems like he really wants to find the true killer of Notorious BIG and could care less about his impending lawsuit against the LAPD.
The film drags in spots. As several reviewers have pointed out and I must concur to, there is an utterly pointless scene with a former girlfriend of two LAPD Officers (David Mack & Rafo Perez) who are supposedly connected to BIG's murder. However, the interview focuses on her sexual escapades with the Officers, not what they knew about the BIG hit. Another scene is when Broomfield lets Suge Knight ramble on for nearly 7 minutes about 'positivity for the kids' or something like that during a prison interview. Not that I'd interrupt Suge either, but to include much of it in the film wastes valuable time. Broomfield also never explains why he chose to/did interview Knight and not his nemesis from that time period, Bad Boy Records CEO Sean "P-Diddy/Puffy" Combs (pronounced 'Paffy Coombz' by Broomfield), despite a witness to the BIG murder saying he talked with Puffy about a suspect the following day.
Biggie and Tupac is an overall likeable documentary with lots of information regarding the two men's killings. Broomfield courageously gathers his information and sources, often throwing caution to the wind. If you are a fan of either rapper or the story surrounding their deaths, this film is for you. A solid 7.5/10.
I didn't know what to expect when watching this film. Nick Broomfield gave quite a performance. Moving through ghettos, neighborhoods, and prisons, he provides us the audience with the most complete summary of the murder of Rap's two biggest stars, along with the course of events that brought them to be enemies.
At the film's onset, Nick looks quite out of place with his haggard dress (usually jeans/t-shirt combo) and thick English accent. Expect Shakur's first name to be pronounced 'Tew-Pack'. He looks blatantly out of place interviewing mostly African-American people for information regarding both murders. You have to admire his courage to look in places most people wouldn't dare. It genuinely seems like he wants to find and expose the truth about both killings.
Broomfield beats the bushes, trying to get a hold of everybody, and I mean everybody he can that knows something about the two cases. What he finds is frightening. Expected, but frightening. Nearly every informant and interviewee corroborates each other's story, including retired LAPD Det. Russell Poole. The flaw with Poole was Broomfield's boasts that it was quite a monumental achievement to get Poole to talk about the case. Poole has given many interviews, recently to VH1's Behind the Music regarding the case. It seems like he really wants to find the true killer of Notorious BIG and could care less about his impending lawsuit against the LAPD.
The film drags in spots. As several reviewers have pointed out and I must concur to, there is an utterly pointless scene with a former girlfriend of two LAPD Officers (David Mack & Rafo Perez) who are supposedly connected to BIG's murder. However, the interview focuses on her sexual escapades with the Officers, not what they knew about the BIG hit. Another scene is when Broomfield lets Suge Knight ramble on for nearly 7 minutes about 'positivity for the kids' or something like that during a prison interview. Not that I'd interrupt Suge either, but to include much of it in the film wastes valuable time. Broomfield also never explains why he chose to/did interview Knight and not his nemesis from that time period, Bad Boy Records CEO Sean "P-Diddy/Puffy" Combs (pronounced 'Paffy Coombz' by Broomfield), despite a witness to the BIG murder saying he talked with Puffy about a suspect the following day.
Biggie and Tupac is an overall likeable documentary with lots of information regarding the two men's killings. Broomfield courageously gathers his information and sources, often throwing caution to the wind. If you are a fan of either rapper or the story surrounding their deaths, this film is for you. A solid 7.5/10.