Slideshow
SET IT OFF
U.S., 1996
Directed by F. Gary Gray
Starring Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise
Approx. 123 min. 35mm.
“Rob a bank? Sure, why not. Each of the four L.A. housing-project girlfriends who get into the heist business in SET IT OFF has been messed up by the system, and none have anything to lose. Frankie (Vivica A. Fox) was recently fired from her bank-teller job. Tisean (Kimberly Elise), a single mother, has lost her toddler son to child welfare until she can come up with the money she needs to pay for child care while she cleans offices. Cleo (Queen Latifah), a raucous, pot-smoking lesbian, is always up for messing around. And Stony (Jada Pinkett-Smith), in shock after cops kill her brother in a case of mistaken identity, just wants the means to get out.” – Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Reviews
“About the buried realities of an economic system that expects women to lead lives the system does not allow them to afford.”
– Roger Ebert
“Influenced by THELMA & LOUISE and WAITING TO EXHALE, F. Gary Gray's SET IT OFF is a well-crafted girls-n-the-hood actioner, with an acute social conscience and plenty of soul.”
– Variety
“Latifah brings something new and startling to the traditional screen depiction of women, something that comes across as so completely indifferent to how she’s perceived by any camera or viewer.”
– Marjorie Baumgarten, The Austin Chronicle