Set It Off
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{{Infobox_Film
| name = Set It Off | image = SetOffDVDCover.jpg | imdb_id = 0117603 | writer = Takashi Bufford
(story/screenplay)
Kate Lanier (screenplay) | starring = Jada Pinkett Smith
Queen Latifah
Vivica A. Fox
Kimberly Elise | director = F. Gary Gray | producer = F. Gary Gray
Dale Pollock | distributor = New Line Cinema | released = November 10, 1996 | runtime = 123 minutes | language = English | music = | awards = | budget = $9,000,000 (estimate)
|}} Template:Otheruses4 Set It Off is a 1996 drama film directed by F. Gary Gray, and stars Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise, as four close friends from Los Angeles who decide to plan and execute a bank robbery. They decide to do so for different reasons, although all four want better for themselves and their families than the opportunities available to them than in the racist and post-industrial Los Angeles.
Contents |
Plot summary
Image:Set it off.jpg Set It Off is a crime thriller about four African-American women bank robbers from a housing project in Los Angeles, California. Ever since her parents' death, Stony (Jada Pinkett Smith) has had to act as a parent to her little brother Stevie (Chaz Lamar Shepard). She works in various capacities to make a future for him at UCLA.
Cleo (Queen Latifah) is a lesbian who wants nothing more than to customize her classic car. Tisean (Kimberly Elise) is a painfully shy single mother to her son Jajuan, struggling to make ends meet. Frankie (Vivica A. Fox) is the stylish bank teller who gets fired and ends up working with the other three at a janitorial service owned by irritating boss Luther (Thomas Jefferson Byrd).
With Frankie upset from her unjust firing, Stony angry from the wrongful killing of her brother, and Tisean losing her baby to the child protective services, the four friends are motivated to rob a bank themselves. Looking for thrills, Cleo gets some guns from Black Sam (Dr. Dre), and they pull off their first job without a hitch. Their success starts a trend and they rob other banks in the area, all the while being investigated by Detective Strode (John C. McGinley). In a romantic subplot, Stony finds romance with wealthy Harvard-educated Keith (Blair Underwood) before the violent chase-scene ending. Template:Endspoiler
Cast
- Jada Pinkett Smith — Lida 'Stony' Newsom
- 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
- Charles Robinson — Nate Andrews
- Dr. Dre — Black Sam
- Charles Walker — Captain Fredricks
- Mark Thompson — TV Anchor
- George Fisher — Cop
- F. Gary Gray — Guy driving low-rider
Awards & nominations
1997 Acapulco Black Film Festival
- Best Director — F. Gary Gray (won)
- Best Actress — Queen Latifah (won)
- Best Soundtrack (won)
1997 Independent Spirit Awards
- Best Supporting Female — Queen Latifah (nominated)
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture — Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smitth (nominated)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture — Blair Underwood (nominated)
Trivia
- Kimberly Elise was discovered by producer Dale Pollock at a restaurant where she waitressed at the start of her career.
- The film inspired several real-life bank robberies that mimicked the bank robbery that took place in the movie. The controversy's extra media publicity helped generate more income for the film.