Set It Off (film)

Set It Off is a 1996 American heist crime action film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Kate Lanier and Takashi Bufford. The film stars Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, and Kimberly Elise (in her film acting debut). It follows four close friends in Los Angeles, California, who plan to execute a bank robbery—each doing so for different reasons—to achieve better for themselves and their families.

The film was a box office success, grossing over $41 million against a budget of $9 million. The film earned positive reviews from critics, who praised the characters, music and performances of the cast (particularly that of Pinkett and Latifah), as well as the chemistry of the four leading actresses. The soundtrack was a commercial success, peaking at number four on the Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Additionally, the singles "Set It Off", "Don't Let Go (Love)", "Days of Our Livez", "Angel", "Come On", "Let It Go" and "Missing You" each charted.

Plot
Francesca "Frankie" Sutton is a Los Angeles bank teller who is fired after a robbery because she recognized one of the robbers from her Southern Californian neighborhood. Although she did not personally know the robber, she’s also implicated as an inside person by Detective Strode. Frankie goes to work at Luther's Janitorial Services with her three best friends, Lida "Stony" Newsom, Cleopatra "Cleo" Sims, and Tisean "T.T." Williams. The owner, Luther, treats them with disrespect and pays them paltry wages.

Tired of working a low-paying job, Frankie explains that they should rob a bank themselves. Cleo agrees, but Stony and T.T. are reluctant. However, after Stony's younger brother Stevie, is gunned down by the police in a case of mistaken identity with one of the bank robbers from Frankie's bank and T.T.'s son is taken away from her by Child Protective Services, they too now have the motivation to join the robbery.

While casing a bank with T.T., Stony meets bank manager Keith Weston whom she starts dating. The four women embark on a series of successful bank robberies due to Frankie's inside knowledge of bank protocol with money and security. An investigation by LAPD Detective Strode ensues. Strode suspects that Cleo (because of her prior convictions), Frankie (because of her inadvertent connection to the earlier robbery and subsequent firing) and Stony (because of her brother's death) are involved. But his superior refuses to allow him to bring them in for questioning because he doesn't feel the evidence is sufficient.

Concerned with the safety of their money, the four women stash the money in an air vent at one of their work sites. However, when Cleo, Frankie, and T.T. show up for work one day and find a new boss in charge, they quickly realize that Luther has discovered the money and fled with it. While Stony attends a banking event with Keith, ending the night with passionate lovemaking, the three women track Luther to a motel where he is sleeping with a prostitute.

The women demand the return of their money, but Luther refuses to give it up and pulls a gun on Cleo, forcing T.T. to shoot him dead in self-defense. Cleo is soon brought in by Strode over for questioning for Luther's murder but manages to intimidate the prostitute into not identifying her. Later, after hearing what happened, Stony is disappointed and angry with Frankie and T.T. about the missing money, Luther's death, and Cleo being brought in for a lineup. They debate robbing another bank, but Stony is reluctant due to the police attention. Eventually, Frankie and Cleo persuade Stony that they need to rob another bank and leave town the next day.

The women decide to rob the Downtown Federal bank, the city’s largest bank and Keith's place of work. Concerned for Keith's safety and not wanting him to know she's a bank robber, Stony calls Keith and tells him to meet her at a café, far from the location of the bank. The four women quickly execute the robbery, but Cleo demands that T.T. grab more money, which gives Strode enough time to arrive.

Strode and his partner try to talk them into surrendering. As T.T. and Stony begin to put down their weapons, a bank security guard shoots T.T. A shootout ensues as Stony shoots the guard, and an enraged Cleo opens fire on the detectives. The women eventually drive away, with Cleo shooting at the cops, though T.T. succumbs to her wounds and dies in Stony's arms. The three remaining women attempt to outrun the police in vain. Cleo tells Stony and Frankie that they have to split up and to take her share of the money with them.

The police find Cleo, who proceeds to lead them on a high speed chase until she is cornered. She drives through a police barricade, which causes the police to shoot at her car and blow out her tires. While she's refusing to surrender, she leaps from her car firing her gun, and is killed by the police, to the dismay of her girlfriend Ursula and friends from the neighborhood watching the chase on TV. A short time later, Frankie is found, and Strode attempts to get Frankie to surrender. After defiantly sticking a gun in Strode's face and reminding him of how he got her fired to begin with, Frankie attempts to run, but one of the officers shoots her in the back and kills her. Stony, who managed to blend in with a tourist group heading to Mexico, tearfully watches Frankie's death from a passing charter bus. Strode sees her from a distance but lets her go, realizing the part he played in driving the women to crime, and due to failing to stop her brother from being killed.

In Mexico, Stony mourns the losses of her friends and brother and cuts off her hair. She then calls Keith to assure him that she is all right and thanks him before smiling. After hanging up, she is seen driving through the mountains with her share of the money from the last robbery beside her.

Cast

 * Jada Pinkett as Lida "Stony" Newsome
 * Queen Latifah as Cleopatra "Cleo" Sims
 * Vivica A. Fox as Francesca "Frankie" Sutton
 * Kimberly Elise as Tisean "T.T." Williams
 * John C. McGinley as Detective Strode
 * Blair Underwood as Keith Weston
 * Ella Joyce as Detective Waller
 * Chaz Lamar Shepherd as Stevie Newsome
 * Thomas Jefferson Byrd as Luther
 * Charlie Robinson as Nate Andrews
 * Samuel Monroe Jr. as Lorenz
 * Dr. Dre as Black Sam
 * WC as Darnell
 * Vincent Baum as Jajuan
 * Jeris Lee Poindexter as Pete Rodney
 * Samantha MacLachlan as Ursula
 * Tamara Clatterbuck as Luther's Girlfriend

Production
Takashi Bufford said that he wrote the script with Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah in mind even though he had not yet met them. The script was offered to New Line three times before finally being accepted, and the studio filled in more about why the female leads turn to bank robbery in a way that wasn't in the original script. Later Vivica A. Fox said: “Originally, with the script, we were throwing out pages daily. Like, “No.” But that’s what you do when you have a good director who knows what he has to turn in. We were given the freedom with him to create things, and dialogue that would make sense. Everyone; once it started making sense, we came up with little moments, and it really was a team effort, to make that movie so successful.

Box office
On a budget of $9 million and an R-rating, Set It Off grossed $36,461,139 in the United States and Canada, $5,129,747 internationally, and total of $41,590,886 worldwide. Tribute stated that it was New Line Cinema's highest-grossing film of 1996.

Critical response
Set It Off received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 70% based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4 out of 10. The site's consensus reads: "It may not boast an original plot, but Set It Off is a satisfying, socially conscious heist film thanks largely to fine performances from its leads." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on scale of A to F.

Roger Ebert stated that Set It Off is "a lot more" than a thriller about four women who rob banks. Comparing it to Waiting to Exhale, but "with a strong jolt of reality," he said, "It creates a portrait of the lives of these women that's so observant and informed." He gave the film three and a half stars, and added, "The movie surprised and moved me: I expected a routine action picture and was amazed how much I started to care about the characters." Gene Siskel gave it a thumbs down.

Stephen Holden of The New York Times compared Set It Off to Thelma & Louise, stating, "In formulaic Hollywood terms, Set It Off might be described as Thelma and Louise Ride Shotgun in the Hood While Waiting to Exhale. A pop psychologist might translate the story into a fable called Women Who Rob Banks and the Society That Hates Them." He added that among "the long list of Hollywood heist movies that make you root for its criminals to steal a million dollars and live happily ever after, F. Gary Gray's film Set It Off is one of the most poignantly impassioned," and that "[i]f this messy roller coaster of a film often seems to be going in several directions at once, it never for a second loses empathy" for the female robbers.

James Berardinelli said that if Set It Off owes any debt to films, those films are Thelma & Louise and Dead Presidents, rather than Waiting to Exhale. He stated that "[t]here's a freshness and energy in the way director F. Gary Gray attacks this familiar material that keeps Set It Off entertaining, even during its weakest moments" and that "[t]he concept of four black action heroines makes for a welcome change in a genre that is dominated by: (a) rugged white males with a perpetual five o'clock shadow, (b) rugged white males who speak English with an accent, and (c) rugged white males with the acting ability of a fence post." Berardinelli added that although "[t]he film doesn't get off to a promising start" and "[t]he first half-hour, which details the various characters' motives for becoming involved in a bank robbery, is unevenly scripted," and that some aspects of the plot are contrived, "[o]nce the setup is complete, however, things shift into high gear. The remainder of the film, which includes several high-adrenaline action sequences and some slower, more dramatic moments, is smoothly-crafted. There are occasional missteps, such as an out-of-place Godfather parody, but, in general, Set It Off manages to rise above these."

Humanities academic Kara Keeling asserts the film's significance to queer film studies within her article '"What's Up with That? She Don't Talk?," in which she establishes Cleo and Ursula's lesbian relationship's significance to butch/femme representation, utilizing concepts of blaxploitation and ghettocentrism.

Accolades
Director F. Gary Gray won an Acapulco Black Film Festival award for Best Director, in 1997, and the Special Jury Prize at the Cognac Film Festival.

1997 Acapulco Black Film Festival
 * Best Director: F. Gary Gray (won)

1996 Independent Spirit Awards
 * Best Supporting Female: Queen Latifah (nominated)

1997 NAACP Image Awards
 * Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture: Queen Latifah (nominated)
 * Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture: Jada Pinkett Smith (nominated)
 * Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Blair Underwood (nominated)

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on September 24, 1996, by East West Records and featured production from several of hip hop and R&B's top producers, such as Organized Noize, DJ U-Neek and DJ Rectangle. The soundtrack was a huge success, making it to number four on the Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It featured seven charting singles: "Set It Off", "Don't Let Go (Love)", "Days of Our Livez", "Angel", "Come On", "Let It Go" and "Missing You". All of the singles had music videos made for them. The track "The Heist" by Da 5 Footaz also had a music video made, even though it was not released as a single. On November 12, 1996, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA.

"Up Against the Wind" (runtime – 4:28), sung by Lori Perri and produced by Christopher Young, is not included in the soundtrack.

Score
Varèse Sarabande issued an album of Christopher Young's score for the film, including Lori Perri's "Up Against the Wind" on November 19, 1996.

Cultural impact
Set It Off became known as a staple in urban cinema as a cult classic. The film was also the center of many parodies and attracted spoofs in television, YouTube and social media alike with creators and actors recreating memorable scenes from the movie, particularly the rooftop scene; Stony's desperate decision to obtain money for her brother; the fight between Cleo and Stony and the final standoff scene. Notable social media creators and stand-up comedian/actor KevOnStage appeared as a detective in one of the 2014 parodies with content creators All Def Women, as well as social media actor and comedian Minks (officalminks) recreated and spoofed the final standoff scene in 2018.

Queen Latifah reprised her role as Cleo in a 1997 MADtv sketch with Phil Lamarr.

Queen Latifah also surprised Anthony Anderson with the cast reunion as a spoof while presenting Best Male R&B artist at the 2005 BET Awards trying to antagonize and rob him of his clothing.

The climactic song "Up Against the Wind" sung by Lori Perry became a popular viral internet meme sound bite in the late 2010s used in many TikTok and Instagram videos.

When asked in an interview with PeopleTV about a possible sequel to the film, Pinkett-Smith said: "That has been going on for years...my answer always is, there's no way I can do Set if Off without Vivica, Queen and Kimberly, that's just not gonna happen. Sometimes you gotta let a classic be a classic and just don't touch it." ET Live asked Fox about the possibility of Issa Rae creating a sequel, to which she replied, "It's a classic, leave it alone. There's absolutely no reason to try to redo it, it's been done, and we did it so well that people are absolutely going to compare it and I think that's her taking on a tremendous chore because that film has become a cult classic and some things are better left (alone)...create your own thing...and if it's not good they are going to slay her for it."

Time listed Set it Off as one of "The 25 Best Heist Movies" in 2017.

Stage play adaptation
Stage theater director and producer Je’Caryous Johnson, a well known renowned playwright in urban stage play productions, adapted Set It Off as an Off-Broadway play titled SET IT OFF: Live on Stage, with the blessing of creator and writer of the movie, Takashi Bufford. The stage play had a multi-city tour production run in 2018 and 2021 with Da Brat starring as Cleo in both 2018 and 2021 productions. The 2018 main cast featured Kyla Pratt as Stony, LeToya Luckett as Frankie and Demetria McKinney as Tisean (T.T.). The 2021 cast featured Keshia Knight Pulliam as Tisean, Lil' Mo and Vanessa Simmons as Frankie (alternating shows), Drew Sidora, LaToya London and Marquita Goings as Stony (alternating shows) and Leon Robinson as Keith Weston. The ensemble featured James "Lil' JJ" Lewis, Bakesta King, Michael Finn, Ericka Pinkett, Jason Raines, Steven J. Scott and Carson Pursley.

The 2020 production run was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic which led to a few rescheduling dates to premiere in early 2021 but was again delayed and resumed in October and officially closed with its final tour run in November 2021. The stage production ran for two and a half hours. The play was received with mixed reviews.