Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageBiggie and Tupac (2002)
Director: Nick Broomfield
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Broomfield's ongoing investigation of the rotten underbelly of civilisation, LA-style, finally hits paydirt, exposing a quagmire of race politics, brute power, instant wealth, glamorised violence, tribalism, murder and denial. Conventional wisdom ascribes the unsolved homicides of gangster rappers Tupac Shakur (in 1996) and Biggie Smalls (a year later) to a tit-for-tat rap rivalry, and indeed one of the film's subplots is the slippery slope from posturing play to fatal reality. But Broomfield's main line of inquiry follows the allegations of ex-LAPD detective Russell Poole, who found evidence implicating corrupt fellow officers in both killings through their connections to Shakur's record label Death Row and its feared boss Suge Knight. Poole was removed from the case, but the film identifies, unlike the LAPD, the suspects and probable cause. Broomfield's patented deadpan guerilla doorstopping method gets results, turning up not only the usual menagerie of bizarre players and back-stories, but some counter moments of quiet wisdom and dignity.Author: NB
Cast & crew
Director: Nick Broomfield
Producer: Michele D'Acosta
Cast: Nick Broomfield, Russell Poole, David Hicken, Billy Garland, Voletta Wallace, Mopreme, Kevin Hackie, Reggie Wright Sr, Frank Alexander, Sonia Flores, Marshall Bigtower, Don Seabold, Mark Hyland, Lil' Cease, Marion 'Suge' Knight full cast
Genre(s): Documentaries
Duration: 108 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now