The film was a box office success, grossing over $41 million against a budget of $9 million.[1][2] 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.[3] 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; the investigating detective, Strode, falsely implicates her as an inside accomplice. Frankie is forced to take a menial job 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 being mistreated, Frankie plans to commit a bank robbery with her friends. Cleo agrees, but Stony and T.T. are reluctant. However, after Stony's younger brother Stevie, is gunned down by the police after being mistakenly identified as one of the robbers and T.T.'s son is taken away from her by Child Protective Services due to her son accidentally poisoning himself after T.T. brought her son to work because she didn’t have money to pay for a babysitter, 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 the LAPD 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 is unable to bring any of them in as Frankie's careful planning has left him without sufficient evidence.
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 threatens them with a gun, forcing T.T. to shoot him dead in self-defense. Cleo is soon brought in by Strode 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 and feels that the police are catching up to them. Eventually, Frankie and Cleo persuade Stony that they will skip town after pulling one final robbery.
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 botches the timing when she and T.T. steal more money than planned.
Strode and his partner arrive on the scene and try to talk them into surrendering. As T.T. and Stony begin to put down their weapons, a bank security guard shoots T.T. in the back. 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 steals a car and leads them on a high-speed chase until she is cornered. She drives through a police barricade, disabling her car, and is gunned down when she opens fire on the pursuing cops 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 demands that she surrender. After defiantly sticking a gun in Strode's face and reminding him of how he’s a catalyst for this situation in the first place, Frankie tries to flee before getting shot and killed. 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 out of guilt for his prior actions, lets her leave.
In Mexico, Stony cuts off her hair and mourns the losses of her friends and brother. 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.
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.[4] 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."[5]
Release
The film had its premiere on November 4, 1996 at Mann's Chinese Theatre.[6] It opened on 1,014 screens in the United States and Canada on November 6, 1996.[7]
Reception
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.[1]Tribute stated that it was New Line Cinema's highest-grossing film of 1996. The film opened on Wednesday, November 6, 1996 and grossed $1.8 million from 972 theaters on its opening day, placing first at the US box office, however, for the weekend it finished behind Ransom starring Mel Gibson, which opened on the Friday, and the second week of Romeo + Juliet. Set It Off grossed $8.8 million for the weekend and $11.8 million in its first five days.[8][1] The film's target audience was young African-American women but the opening day grosses suggested it reached other audiences.[8] The grosses were also believed to have been helped by the popularity of the soundtrack, which at the time was the fifth best-selling soundtrack album of 1996.[8] Despite the good opening, there were reports of violence in some theaters showing the film, including a shooting in Lakewood, California which left three people injured.[8]
Critical response
Set It Off received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences.[2] 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."[9] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on scale of A to F.[10]
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."[11]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.[12]
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."[13]
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.[14]
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.
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Artist/Performer
Length
1.
"Set It Off"
Ivan Martias / Andrea Martin / Organized Noize / Dana Owens / Steve Standard
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.
No.
Title
Artist/Performer
Length
1.
"Up Against the Wind"
Lori Perri
3:29
2.
"Set It Off"
4:08
3.
"Hell Blowin Hard"
2:19
4.
"Buttercrunch"
2:20
5.
"Rota Rooter"
4:03
6.
"Four-One"
1:57
7.
"Squeezebox"
1:38
8.
"Balboa Blood"
2:32
9.
"Toupee Souffle"
2:23
10.
"Q. for a Day"
2:58
11.
"Flame on Fire"
2:10
12.
"Up Against the Wind (Reprise)"
Lori Perri
4:28
Total length:
34:30
Legacy
Cultural impact
Set It Off became known as a staple in urban cinema as a cult classic.[17] 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 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.[18]
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."[19]ET Live asked Fox about the possibility of Issa Rae creating a sequel,[20] 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.[21]
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.).[22] 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.[23][24]
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.
^Berardinelli, James (1996). "Set It Off". reelviews.net. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
^Keeling, Kara (2007). ""What's Up with That? She Don't Talk"; Set It Off's Black Lesbian Butch-Femme". The Witch's Flight: The Cinematic, the Black Femme, and the Image of Common Sense.
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