LINDA FANG

Fox, Latifah, Elise, and Smith

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. When her brother gets shot by police officers in a case of mistaken identity, Stony gets disillusioned with her life, deciding to join with her friends to rob a bank.

Cleo (Queen Latifah) is a lesbian who wants nothing more than to customize her classic car. As demonstrated in the movie, she has refined car-stealing skills. She seems to be the only character motivated solely by greed.

Tisean (Kimberly Elise) is a painfully shy single mother to her son Jajuan, struggling to make ends meet. Tisean couldn't afford a babysitter and brings her son to work, which results in an accident occurring where her son swallows something poisonous. As a result, the child is taken away by protective services until Tisean can afford to hire a babysitter. This situation propels Tisean into a situation in which she is willing to join the bank robbers.

Frankie (Vivica A. Fox) is the stylish bank teller who gets fired unjustly and ends up working with the other three at a janitorial service owned by irritating boss Luther (Thomas Jefferson Byrd). Frankie was fired because she knew one of the bank robbers in a previous bank robbery and was suspected of collusion (although she was not actually involved), and she felt this was unjust.

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 attains firearms 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. Tisean is the first out of the gang to die. She is gunned down during a robbery, when a police officer tells her to put a bag down. As she does, she is shot. Cleo is the next to die; she is in her car and is shot by several police officers while trying to drive away. Frankie is the last to be killed. This happens when she has the chance to turn herself in but instead decides to try and run through the crowd of police officers surrounding her who fire their weapons. Stony, the surviving member of the bank robbers, grabs the bag of money, spoils from the ultimate robbery, and goes on a bus to Mexico, where she shaves her head and begins a new life.

Celebrating after bank robbery

• 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

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)

1997 NAACP Image Awards

• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture — Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smitth (nominated)
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture — Blair Underwood (nominated)

• Kimberly Elise was discovered by producer Dale Pollock at a restaurant where she waitressed at the start of her career. ^{[citation needed]}

• 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. ^{[citation needed]}

• Set It Off at the Internet Movie Database