This was a film was well-paced with a lot of mystery, suspense and very good acting from both Depp and Whitaker (they are very talented actors... especially Whitaker) and provides interesting insight into the corruption of the Los Angeles Police Department during the period in question, specifically because it sticks close enough to the facts that a very educated person on the subject of these two assassinations (though, the murder of Biggie Smalls is the primary focus of this film) would have a hard time determining when and where the film made use of its artistic licence. However, despite the film's apparent adherence to the facts of the case, it is those facts that call the film into question.
Whitaker plays the role of the journalist who, years earlier, reported that Biggie Smalls payed for the hit on Tupac Shakur by Southside Crips. This theory was maligned at the time and in this film for the simple fact that the story told was one of Biggie Smalls sneaking into Vegas and checking into one of the more prominent hotels on the strip undetected, to oversee the assassination of Tupac from a nearby location. It always seemed fanciful that Biggie Smalls would have gone to Vegas to organise the assassination of Tupac Shakur from a luxury hotel and, moreover, that he would have been able to do so undetected. However, the source of the information about the assassination itself was members of the Southside Crips.
So fanciful was the idea that Biggie Smalls would visit Vegas to oversee the assassins at work that it discredited the idea of Biggie and Combs involvement in the assassination of Tupac Shakur, despite the fact that Tupac had become a literal mortal enemy of Biggie and Combs after being shot five times at Quad studios in New York City... to such an extent that Marion "Suge" Knight, the owner of Death Row Records and the man who, at great cost, bailed Tupac Shakur out of jail in exchange for a three album deal with his label, was himself suspected by many (admittedly, not in the know) of plotting the murder of his close friend and most valuable asset and, extraordinarily, that he planned to have the hit take place when he was directly in the line of fire, sustaining injuries to his head and chest in the process.
Thus, the fanciful detail of Biggie Smalls travelling to Vegas to organize the hit on Tupac served the purpose of obscuring and re-directing the independent (i.e non-law enforcement) investigators into Tupac's murder in the even more fanciful direction of "Suge" Knight. (A story that was also generated by Southside Crips.)
Unfortunately, this film seeks to achieve the same end; misdirecting attention from Biggie Smalls and Bad Boy Records towards Death Row Records and "Suge" Knight in the murder of Tupac Shakur.
Despite the fact that this is overtly a film about the murder of Biggie Smalls, the facts surrounding the case ensure that the presence of Tupac looms large. (A common feature of the relationship between Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur was the outsized abilities, talents and accomplishments of the latter over the former.)
Reality is what undermines the film more than anything. What pervades the film is the notion that the alleged involvement of Biggie Smalls murder in Tupac Shakur's death is an ugly smear... but this is not so. The film draws attention to the outlandish claim of Biggie's presence in Vegas as a means of attempting to discredit the notion of Biggie's involvement outright. But anyone who knows anything about such crimes knows that the last place Biggie Smalls would want to be if he planned the murder of Tupac Shakur is at/near the scene of the crime. Obviously, his absence does not preclude his involvement (though this is exactly what is being suggested) and facts that have only recently emerged serve to legitimise the claims of the article the the film so maligns... as do the rapper's own words.
What makes the maligning of the article the pointed the finger at Biggie Smalls even more absurd is that the apology the fictional writer of that very real article apologises to the actual mother of Biggie Smalls for maligning him as a murderer... because it is the tireless endeavours of Biggie's mother (Voletta Wallace) that did the most to implicate her son in the murder itself.
It was her lawsuit that forced the Los Angeles police to effectively re-open the case into her son's death and (providing further evidence of the LAPD's corruption) only insofar as they sought to generate enough evidence to clear the department of involvement in Biggie's murder according to the civil (not criminal) standard of proof.
In the process, the truth (insomuch as it can be) surrounding the two murders was obtained. The substance of the article that the film maligns turns out to have been true all along.
Was Biggie in Vegas? It's highly unlikely. (Biggie's crew claimed long ago to have paperwork proving that he was in a recording studio in New York but that material appears to have never been brought forth and wouldn't constitute proof even if it was... such records can always be forged.)
But did Sean Combs (owner of Bad Boy Records and close friend of Biggie Smalls, his label mate and boss) put a million-dollar hit out on Tupac Shakur and "Suge" Knight with the Southside Crips? Yes. Keefe D, the sole surviving member of the hit squad, confirmed this. He was in the car the drove up alongside Tupac Shakur and "Suge" Knight and it was his nephew, Orlando Anderson, who fired the shots from the backseat of their rental car.
These admissions were made to the police in exchange for his freedom. If he had failed to cooperate, he would have gone to jail. If he lied, he would have gone to jail. So, his admission of involvement (already known to those close to the assassination) is highly likely to be substantively true. That he claims to have not been paid for the hit and that his fellow gang member got $500K for the partially-successful hit and made off with the money is to be treated with caution. His claim that he thought he saw Tupac reach for a gun are also unlikely to be true. (One of those reasons being, that no member of Tupac's entourage was ever identified by the police officers who obtained them was identified as being in possession of a firearm.) But, substantively, his claims are true and his claims implicate Sean Combs in the murder and, by association, implicate Biggie Smalls.
(I skirt over the assault on Orlando Anderson by Tupac and Mob Piru gang members hours prior to the shooting for the simple fact that the attack itself merely served as a casus belli, a cause for war. It was the act that provided the assassins impetus and justification for their crime as an act of retaliation but it was not the explicit cause of the crime. The million dollar reward was and, given the money on offer from Bad Boy and Combs, it is very possible (if not probable) that, by effectively presenting himself in front of Mob Piru gang members, Death Row employees and Tupac, his was a deliberately provocative act designed to draw and attack to provide his fellow gang members with the incentive to carry out the hit, that the Crips had yet to actively pursue, then and there.)
Would Sean Combs have put a hit out on Tupac Shakur without consulting with Biggie? Highly unlikely. Moreover, in light of recent revelations, we can now clearly see that Biggie Smalls implicated himself in the crime on record.
Look at the lyrics of Long Kiss Goodnight, a song recorded after Tupac's murder. (Harsher lyrics are known to have been written and recorded about Tupac by Biggie but have yet to see the light of day.)
Combs: "See... I told y'all motherf'ers."
Big: "That stupid n man."
Combs: "I told y'all to stop!" Big: "He f'd up, yo."
Combs: "I prayed for you to stop."...
Big: "N, please. Blood flood your dungarees." A reference to the dungarees Tupac used to wear.
Big: "Laugh now cry later, I rhyme greater." This is a reference to the tattoos on Tupac's back.
Big: "I ain't mad at cha." The title of Tupac's last single. The video for which sees Tupac shot dead in a drive-by and ascending to a heaven.
Big: "I'm flammin' gats, aimin' at, these f'n maniacs, put my name in raps, What part of the game is that?" A reference to Tupac's derogatory references to Big in his songs... Hit 'Em Up being the most provocative example of this.
Big: "You're bleedin' lovely, with your spirit above me, or beneath me, your whole life you lived sneaky, now you rest eternally, sleepy, you burn when you creep me, rest where the worms and the weak be."
Big: "Look what you made me do, brains blew, my team in the marine blue, six coupe... given long kisses, bitch."
Marine blue is an obvious reference to the same South-side Crips that are known to have killed Tupac. Blue is the color of the Crips; red for Bloods. This indicates quite clearly that Biggie had inside knowledge of who killed Tupac and why. He even says that the hit was carried out at his behest.
The chorus of the song is "Time for you to die, as I kiss your ass goodbye." The only way he could have done more to implicate himself would have been to offer up a confession at a local police station.
The inside knowledge he had of the crime, coupled with his bragging of his own involvement in it (criminals have a tendency to want to brag about the crimes they have been able to get away with... rap lyrics were taken much more seriously at that time by both object and subject than most people realize to this day) and the first-hand information we now have of Combs desire to see his rivals murdered at great personal cost to him clearly implicate him in the crime the film seeks to portray him as being entirely innocent of.
Thus, while I liked the film a lot, the entire premise of the film (that Biggie was unjustly maligned as a murderer) is terribly flawed.
Whitaker plays the role of the journalist who, years earlier, reported that Biggie Smalls payed for the hit on Tupac Shakur by Southside Crips. This theory was maligned at the time and in this film for the simple fact that the story told was one of Biggie Smalls sneaking into Vegas and checking into one of the more prominent hotels on the strip undetected, to oversee the assassination of Tupac from a nearby location. It always seemed fanciful that Biggie Smalls would have gone to Vegas to organise the assassination of Tupac Shakur from a luxury hotel and, moreover, that he would have been able to do so undetected. However, the source of the information about the assassination itself was members of the Southside Crips.
So fanciful was the idea that Biggie Smalls would visit Vegas to oversee the assassins at work that it discredited the idea of Biggie and Combs involvement in the assassination of Tupac Shakur, despite the fact that Tupac had become a literal mortal enemy of Biggie and Combs after being shot five times at Quad studios in New York City... to such an extent that Marion "Suge" Knight, the owner of Death Row Records and the man who, at great cost, bailed Tupac Shakur out of jail in exchange for a three album deal with his label, was himself suspected by many (admittedly, not in the know) of plotting the murder of his close friend and most valuable asset and, extraordinarily, that he planned to have the hit take place when he was directly in the line of fire, sustaining injuries to his head and chest in the process.
Thus, the fanciful detail of Biggie Smalls travelling to Vegas to organize the hit on Tupac served the purpose of obscuring and re-directing the independent (i.e non-law enforcement) investigators into Tupac's murder in the even more fanciful direction of "Suge" Knight. (A story that was also generated by Southside Crips.)
Unfortunately, this film seeks to achieve the same end; misdirecting attention from Biggie Smalls and Bad Boy Records towards Death Row Records and "Suge" Knight in the murder of Tupac Shakur.
Despite the fact that this is overtly a film about the murder of Biggie Smalls, the facts surrounding the case ensure that the presence of Tupac looms large. (A common feature of the relationship between Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur was the outsized abilities, talents and accomplishments of the latter over the former.)
Reality is what undermines the film more than anything. What pervades the film is the notion that the alleged involvement of Biggie Smalls murder in Tupac Shakur's death is an ugly smear... but this is not so. The film draws attention to the outlandish claim of Biggie's presence in Vegas as a means of attempting to discredit the notion of Biggie's involvement outright. But anyone who knows anything about such crimes knows that the last place Biggie Smalls would want to be if he planned the murder of Tupac Shakur is at/near the scene of the crime. Obviously, his absence does not preclude his involvement (though this is exactly what is being suggested) and facts that have only recently emerged serve to legitimise the claims of the article the the film so maligns... as do the rapper's own words.
What makes the maligning of the article the pointed the finger at Biggie Smalls even more absurd is that the apology the fictional writer of that very real article apologises to the actual mother of Biggie Smalls for maligning him as a murderer... because it is the tireless endeavours of Biggie's mother (Voletta Wallace) that did the most to implicate her son in the murder itself.
It was her lawsuit that forced the Los Angeles police to effectively re-open the case into her son's death and (providing further evidence of the LAPD's corruption) only insofar as they sought to generate enough evidence to clear the department of involvement in Biggie's murder according to the civil (not criminal) standard of proof.
In the process, the truth (insomuch as it can be) surrounding the two murders was obtained. The substance of the article that the film maligns turns out to have been true all along.
Was Biggie in Vegas? It's highly unlikely. (Biggie's crew claimed long ago to have paperwork proving that he was in a recording studio in New York but that material appears to have never been brought forth and wouldn't constitute proof even if it was... such records can always be forged.)
But did Sean Combs (owner of Bad Boy Records and close friend of Biggie Smalls, his label mate and boss) put a million-dollar hit out on Tupac Shakur and "Suge" Knight with the Southside Crips? Yes. Keefe D, the sole surviving member of the hit squad, confirmed this. He was in the car the drove up alongside Tupac Shakur and "Suge" Knight and it was his nephew, Orlando Anderson, who fired the shots from the backseat of their rental car.
These admissions were made to the police in exchange for his freedom. If he had failed to cooperate, he would have gone to jail. If he lied, he would have gone to jail. So, his admission of involvement (already known to those close to the assassination) is highly likely to be substantively true. That he claims to have not been paid for the hit and that his fellow gang member got $500K for the partially-successful hit and made off with the money is to be treated with caution. His claim that he thought he saw Tupac reach for a gun are also unlikely to be true. (One of those reasons being, that no member of Tupac's entourage was ever identified by the police officers who obtained them was identified as being in possession of a firearm.) But, substantively, his claims are true and his claims implicate Sean Combs in the murder and, by association, implicate Biggie Smalls.
(I skirt over the assault on Orlando Anderson by Tupac and Mob Piru gang members hours prior to the shooting for the simple fact that the attack itself merely served as a casus belli, a cause for war. It was the act that provided the assassins impetus and justification for their crime as an act of retaliation but it was not the explicit cause of the crime. The million dollar reward was and, given the money on offer from Bad Boy and Combs, it is very possible (if not probable) that, by effectively presenting himself in front of Mob Piru gang members, Death Row employees and Tupac, his was a deliberately provocative act designed to draw and attack to provide his fellow gang members with the incentive to carry out the hit, that the Crips had yet to actively pursue, then and there.)
Would Sean Combs have put a hit out on Tupac Shakur without consulting with Biggie? Highly unlikely. Moreover, in light of recent revelations, we can now clearly see that Biggie Smalls implicated himself in the crime on record.
Look at the lyrics of Long Kiss Goodnight, a song recorded after Tupac's murder. (Harsher lyrics are known to have been written and recorded about Tupac by Biggie but have yet to see the light of day.)
Combs: "See... I told y'all motherf'ers."
Big: "That stupid n man."
Combs: "I told y'all to stop!" Big: "He f'd up, yo."
Combs: "I prayed for you to stop."...
Big: "N, please. Blood flood your dungarees." A reference to the dungarees Tupac used to wear.
Big: "Laugh now cry later, I rhyme greater." This is a reference to the tattoos on Tupac's back.
Big: "I ain't mad at cha." The title of Tupac's last single. The video for which sees Tupac shot dead in a drive-by and ascending to a heaven.
Big: "I'm flammin' gats, aimin' at, these f'n maniacs, put my name in raps, What part of the game is that?" A reference to Tupac's derogatory references to Big in his songs... Hit 'Em Up being the most provocative example of this.
Big: "You're bleedin' lovely, with your spirit above me, or beneath me, your whole life you lived sneaky, now you rest eternally, sleepy, you burn when you creep me, rest where the worms and the weak be."
Big: "Look what you made me do, brains blew, my team in the marine blue, six coupe... given long kisses, bitch."
Marine blue is an obvious reference to the same South-side Crips that are known to have killed Tupac. Blue is the color of the Crips; red for Bloods. This indicates quite clearly that Biggie had inside knowledge of who killed Tupac and why. He even says that the hit was carried out at his behest.
The chorus of the song is "Time for you to die, as I kiss your ass goodbye." The only way he could have done more to implicate himself would have been to offer up a confession at a local police station.
The inside knowledge he had of the crime, coupled with his bragging of his own involvement in it (criminals have a tendency to want to brag about the crimes they have been able to get away with... rap lyrics were taken much more seriously at that time by both object and subject than most people realize to this day) and the first-hand information we now have of Combs desire to see his rivals murdered at great personal cost to him clearly implicate him in the crime the film seeks to portray him as being entirely innocent of.
Thus, while I liked the film a lot, the entire premise of the film (that Biggie was unjustly maligned as a murderer) is terribly flawed.