User Reviews

Set it Off, with Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, and Kimberly Elise. The story of four Black women, all of whom needed money, but, more importantly, all of whom suffered at the hands of the majority causing a change in the direction of their lives. Whether it was being fired so a bank manager can save face, or having your brother shot due to trigger-happy cops, or having you child removed by an unfeeling and uncaring child welfare worker, prejudice worked to change the lives of the women involved and, ultimately, lead to their deaths. A powerful film with a powerful message. This was one of the most enjoyable films I have seen lately.

My first impression was "Gangsta flick with chicks." And, to some extent, that's what I got. But there was a lot more, and I was deeply impressed with the realism, with one exception. The exception comes near the end and I won't give it away, but it involves police officers taking shots at a suspect with a bus full of people in the background.

One of the recurring themes of this film is how innocence and good intentions can turn into a nightmarish reality.

A bank teller is confronted by a robber that she knows from childhood. She can hardly believe what is happening, and she doesn't react in the manner in which all bank tellers are trained. A hostage dies, and she loses her job. A slow reaction leads to a death, accusations, and the loss employment.

A bright young man gets a haircut that is identical to a robbery suspect's. The police surround him. He has a champagne bottle in his coat that he doesn't want to break and tries to pull it out. They think it is a gun. An innocent mistake leads to a death.

A loving mother can no longer afford a babysitter. She has to bring her child to work, and he gets into some cleaning supplies. A mother's good intention turns into a hospital trip and a custody battle.

There were other instances where one mistake led to dire consequences, but I found them all believable, and none of them gave me the impression of being mere vehicles to advance the plot.

I enjoyed some of the other representations of Life as it is. One being the inclusion of a lesbian (Latifa) in the cast without making a big deal out of it. Although exhibiting some stereotypical lesbian traits (denim overalls for example,) she wasn't overly "butch." And homosexuality wasn't used as a plot device to include nudity either. Speaking of which, the sex in the movie was pretty well done. When there was love, the sex was passionate. When Stony was doing it for money, she looked ready to burst into tears. For the most part, the sex came without nudity: disappointing in some ways, but adding credibility to the movie in others.

I did have a few problems with this movie. One is a failing that I see in many movies. When a character's friend or family member is killed, he or she expresses initial shock and pain, but later on exhibits no outward mental stress. There is also the "I would have done it differently" factor. I felt this a few times, the first being the opening scene where Frankie (Fox) is being held up. Or when Cleo (Latifa) is stealing get away cars and tossing the previous owner's CDs out the window. Both of these are cases in which one needs to move fast and do what is needed to move on. You don't have time to stare blankly at your old friend. You don't have time to select the proper driving ambience. But these flaws didn't take too much from the general feeling.

I rated it 8 of 10.

Bank teller Frankie Sutton (Vivica A. Fox) gets fired after the bank gets robbed by somebody she knows. Police detective Strode (John C. McGinley) suspects her involvement. She is forced to join her friends Stony Newsom (Jada Pinkett Smith), Cleo Sims (Queen Latifah), and TT Williams (Kimberly Elise) doing janitorial work. Stony's unarmed beloved brother Stevie gets killed by the cops. TT's boy has an accident and Child Services takes him away. Casual musings about robbing banks turn into reality. As they get more successful, the best friends start to clash.

This is more than a crime drama and it's the more part that I'm uncertain of. It's painfully direct that three of the four girls are given reasons to do the robberies. They are victims first before they decide to do the crimes. It's a form of female empowerment movie. I don't really buy Stony's path. She should have sued the city and the police. It's too convenient to have so many problems. There is a similarity to 'Thelma & Louise' but it doesn't have quite the same equivalence. On the other hand, I like the attempt to change up the traditional bank heist movie.

"Set it Off" is far from remarkable, but it's amiable and entertaining. The screenplay was definitely written by amateurs, packing as much melodrama into the storyline as possible. First we introduce the character of Jada Pinkett's brother. She's like a mother figure to him, since their parents are dead. He's a nice guy, gets into a fight with his sister and flees the house. It's no surprise when he turns out dead two scenes later. Then Kimberly Elise's child accidentally swallows some household substances and the custody of the kid is handed over to child services. We have Vivica A. Fox who got fired from her job at the bank and Queen Latifah who's just plain crazy. Basically, the character motivations seem ripped from a soap opera.

The film is predictable from the get-go, so just strap in for the ride. Don't expect high-class writing and high-class direction, especially from the guy who made "Friday." Don't get me wrong, that was a good movie, but like "Set it Off" it's only valuable as lightweight entertainment.

One thing I have to say is this is one black movie that didn't go for the humdrum "white people bad, black people good" premise. I assumed that was the direction the film was going after watching the first scene in which the white bank manager fires Vivica for not following procedure, totally ignoring the fact that she was at gunpoint, along with everyone else in the bank. But then we get introduced to the other two managers, who are both black and both sleazy. Not to say that black people are sleazy; it's just good knowing that the writers weren't associating the term "white" with "sleazy" and didn't see the characters in terms of color. Even the John C. McGinley character, the detective who is out to get the four women, isn't entirely sadistic.

**************SPOILERS AHEAD************

There are a few moments that are just too silly for their own good. Are you telling me two cops are gonna be so distracted by an obnoxious vagrant that they'll totally disregard a bank robbery (literally) taking place right behind them? As I said, you can tell this was written by amateurs. And then we have Queen Latifah driving through the bank in a minivan, which is stupid in the first place and shown simply for cinematic pretentiousness, and the four women drive out, still not being actively pursued by the cops. Latifah makes one turn and suddenly she loses the cops altogether? That's too much disbelief to suspend. And of course, in the usual cinematic tradition, the minor characters have to die first. Kimberly Elise dies in standard operatic fashion--in someone's arms, saying her last words. Only in the movies can someone die like that 90 % of the time.

The acting is pretty good, though sometimes hammy. When Jada sees her brother dead on the street, screaming and crying out, "Whyyyyy!!!!" (I could be paraphrasing), that was too much. Latifah's role as a crazy thug wasn't much of a stretch, especially since this film was made back in her hip-hop days. She is a fine actress, though, and I prefer her more mature roles in films like "Living Out Loud." John C. McGinley and Blair Underwood add a touch of class.

If F. Gary Gray weren't so dependent on melodrama and big action spectacles to create tension, this wouldn't been a much more compelling film. Maybe someone like John Singleton or the Hughes Brothers could've made this a more powerful film. Just don't set your expectations too high and you should have a good time.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

A coincidental but unlikely stream of bad luck among four women leads them all to the only solution to their problems--rob a bank. And so begins a tale of silliness. Things happen in this film that just can't be believed no matter how much one tries to check the brain at the door. Four women are doing janitorial work. One brings her kid to the job. All four turn their backs together and as quick as you can say, "contrived", the kid is under a sink drinking ammonia. The main detective character knows exactly who is behind it and wants permission to follow up on the suspects but the boss says no because the police have accidentally killed the one suspect's brother. We wouldn't want to upset them despite the overwhelming evidence against them. And then they are never watched as they enter bank after bank to rob them. In one ridiculous scene, they stand in the hallway adjusting their wigs and dark glasses disguises arguing whether or not to rob the place. No one is suspicious of these characters outside the bank entrance?? And one very glaring goof-up is when they have breakfast and then head right off to the robbery(Vivica Fox is sporting a designer baseball cap turned backwards so you know she means business) . As soon as they finish the robbery,it's suddenly night time. The flick is chock full of cliché lines and actions. The tough Queen Latifah has just driven through a line of heavily armed police who open fire on her car, turning it into swiss cheese, yet she manages to take a very long pause and then emerge with a machine gun blazing. You'll slap a knee at that scene. EVERYONE in this movie is trigger happy. All the cops and security guards shoot to kill at the blink of an eye. The main detective spends several scenes just trying to get people to hold their fire. I gave it three stars because it's so darned goofy that you will probably be entertained at the implausibility of it all.

Director F. Gary Gary treats the the plight of a quartet of blue-collar African-American women with great sympathy in "Set It Off." Each of these women have experienced adversity first hand and the idea is that they have been dealt a bad hand by destiny. One woman prostitutes herself to ensure that her brother gets to go to college, but she finds out later that her efforts were for naught. Another woman is implicated in a bank robbery simply because she knew the man who robbed her bank and didn't follow the procedures that she had been drilled in. Another woman is a single parent who has to work one job to pay the babysitter. Finally, the fourth member who is the least sympathetic is a lesbian who has been restoring her car since the seventh grade. These closely-knit friends take their lumps but decide that whatever a man can do, they can do better. Consequently, they embark on a life of crime in this predictable, often contrived, but nevertheless entertaining crime thriller. Clearly, the moral of the story is don't rob banks. If you know somebody robbing a bank, you must behave as if you don't know them. Never, never, never--if you are a single-parent--ever bring your unattended infant to the workplace. Crime doesn't pay and "Set It Off" makes it abundantly clearly as three out of the four survive. The fourth escapes because somebody on the other side allows them to getaway. The performances are sometimes a little too over the top, especially Jada Pinkett and Vivica A. Fox. If you abhor profanity, prepare yourself for an onslaught of the F-bomb.

I thought this was great. I am not being biased because of the fact that F. Gary Gray directed this but this was actually a very good movie. There is so much in this movie that really made me feel bad for the female quartet of bank robbers: (1. Stony degrades herself in order to put her brother through college only to find out he didn't get in and to see him shot dead minutes later (2. T. T., a single mom gets her pay docked, and is forced to bring her son to work who is hospitalized there as well (3. Frankie is robbed at gunpoint by some rockheads from her hood and loses her job because she didn't follow the procedure, and knowin' the game you're not supposed to snitch on someone from your own block 'cause that puts you at risk and (4. Cleo, the trigger happy, dyked out robber of the bunch has led a life of crime and has no one to turn to but her girlfriend and best friends.

This was such a wonderful movie because the action was definitely present here and the acting(especially Jada Pinkett and Queen Latifah) was great! Not only was the action there but the sentiment of the girls and what they've been through and what they go through shows how unfortunate they were and even worse, I damn near almost started crying at the ending 'cause it made me feel so bad. Christopher Young score well with the BGM of this flick to put the cherry on top.

Very wonderful movie with a conscience 10/10.

My second favorite entry in the GCU* (right behind "Boyz in Da Hood" or whatever). A wonderful unintentional comedy that had it all: Murder, betrayal, ridiculous action sequences, a girls-learning-to-shoot montage, a steamy love scene, the dead kid brother (who was an honor student, of course), the "grieving" older sister who's pretty much over it in 3 minutes. AND an extremely cringe-worthy "Godfather" reference!

The performances are actually pretty solid, especially John C McGinley, who is chewing a toothpick in literally every single scene he's in. I assume one is supposed to feel sorry for the main protagonists and their sad circumstances but it's kind of hard, as they are complete idiots.

Anyway, if you want a genuinely entertaining movie you don't have to think too much (or at all, really) about, I recommend Set It Off

*Ghetto Cinematic Universe.

i saw set it off the first time about the beginning of 2004 and again recently. i figured it would be just like EVERY OTHER action movie (or every other movie for that matter) and have a happy ending. SPOILERS***

i never expected 3 of the 4 characters to die so violently, i mean i felt like my best friend died THREE TIMES!!! i think the best performance was from Queen Latifah just because i really didnt expect her to do such a hard role like cleo. especially since she has such femme roles like chicago and beauty shop lately. all in all this film was really awesome and has some twists that no viewer could expect.