Set It Off (1996)

Director:

F. Gary Gray

Writers (WGA):

Takashi Bufford (story)
Takashi Bufford (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 November 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Deal with this. The only breaks you get are the ones you take.

Plot:

Four Black women, all of whom have suffered for lack of money and at the hands of the majority, undertake to rob banks...

Plot Keywords:

Bank Robbery | Exploitation | Lesbian | Police | Social

Awards:

5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Jada Pinkett Smith	...	Lida 'Stony' Newsom (as Jada Pinkett)
Queen Latifah	...	Cleopatra 'Cleo' Sims
Vivica A. Fox	...	Francesca 'Frankie' Sutton
Kimberly Elise	...	Tisean 'T.T.' Williams
John C. McGinley	...	Detective Strode
Blair Underwood	...	Keith Weston
Vincent Baum	...	Jajuan
Van Baum	...	Jajuan
Chaz Lamar Shepherd	...	Stevie Newsom (as Chaz Lamar Shepard)
Thomas Jefferson Byrd	...	Luther (as Thom Byrd)
Charles Robinson	...	Nate Andrews (as Charlie Robinson)
Ella Joyce	...	Detective Waller
Anna Maria Horsford	...	Ms. Wells
Samantha MacLachlan	...	Ursula
Samuel Monroe Jr.	...	Lorenz

MPAA:

Rated R for strong graphic violence, pervasive language, some sex and drug use.

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Philippines:X | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | France:-12 | Germany:16 (w) | Ireland:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Singapore:R(A)

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

Kimberly Elise was discovered by producer Dale Pollock at a restaurant where she waitressed at the start of her career.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Numerous errors in gun visual/sound effects and operation. During the final bank shootout, Stony's gun runs out of ammunition (evidenced by the slide locking back). However, she continues to pull the trigger generating a "click click" sound. Modern semi-automatic pistols such as the Glock Stony is using do not return the trigger to a ready-to-fire position until the slide closes and another round is chambered. Therefore, it is impossible to generate several audible clicks with an empty weapon.

Quotes:

Cleo: Countin all this money is harder than working for Luther! HA HA HA!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Waist Deep (2006)

Soundtrack:

I'll Be Missing You

The S.W.A. (Sistaz With Attitude)

"Set It Off" is about four African-American women(Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, and Kimberly Elise) who decide to go out and rob a few banks. They don't rob banks for sheer enjoyment or because they have nothing better to do. No, they rob them because they are getting back at "the system" that they feel has screwed them over in their lives. Here are the reasons: in the opening bank robbery sequence, Frankie(Fox), who was at the time a teller, was fired simply because she knew the suspect who robbed it; Stony's(Smith) younger brother, Stevie was killed by police after being mistaken for the robbery suspect; Cleo(Latifah) joins them simply because she is p***ed off at society; Tisean(Elise) is a single mother who is barely able to support her son and when he is accidently poisoned and taken away by child services, decides she has no other choice. I feel I must point out that up until that point, she is reluctant to join the other three women.

This is a really good movie that is definitely Oscar-worthy material. Maybe not for the Best Picture category, but definitely Oscar-worthy. The performances are excellent especially from all four of our young stars. Queen Latifah should definitely should have gotten an Oscar or Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her portrayal of a fiery lesbian is right on key. F. Gary Gray, who also directed Ice Cube and Chris Tucker in "Friday", is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors. I don't think you should really call "Set It Off" an action movie since there isn't really action until the ending.

A line from the movie, "if that crackhead Darnell can rob a bank, then so can we." This quote outlines the main message that the movie is trying to tell: the social standing of women in our society, saying that they have rights too. The movie says that women can basically do anything men can do (and probably better) and they must be applauded for their efforts. Now I'm not saying that women should all go out and round up their friends and start robbing banks. Director F. Gary Gray definitely should be praised for his smart casting choices.

10/10

P.S.: Now from the sound of this review, I've probably got you thinking I'm a woman. Wrong! I'm just a 16 year-old boy from Virginia.