Frankie (Vivica A Fox) has a bank job — until someone she knows from South Central LA holds her at gun-point, the attempted robbery turns into a bloodbath, and the boss sends her packing. Life gets much harder. Her homegirls (Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Kimberly Elise) fix her up with the office-cleaning firm where they work nights, but it’s not long before they hatch a plan to capitalize on Frankie’s qualifications, in particular her inside knowledge of bank security procedures.
In the wake of all those gun-toting white women and black men, black women were overdue their own loaded action adventure. This noir Thelma & Louise rekindles some of the subversive fire of ’70s exploitation flicks, although it’s far too polished to have come from the Corman stable. The intense heist sequences show a command of thriller dynamics that’s right up there with the best of them, but director F Gary Gray is equally convincing on the character front, eliciting funny, grounded performances from the four women (Latifah notably refuses to caricature her lesbian role). It’s an energizing spree for the Girlz n the hood.
The movie surprised and moved me: I expected a routine action picture and was amazed how much I started to care about the characters… It creates a portrait of the lives of these women that’s so observant and informed.”
Roger Ebert
Latifah brings an extraordinary presence to the proceedings, and not just in her no-fuss approach to Cleo’s sexual orientation. Both in the way that she scowls and glares at her adversaries and the way that she delights in her friends’ company and her new-found job skills, 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, Austin Chronicle
Media Partner
F. Gary Gray
Jada Pinkett, Vivica A. Fox, Queen Latifah, Kimberly Elise
USA
1996
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Dale Pollock, Oren Koules
Screenwriter
Takashi Bufford, Kate Lapier
Cinematography
Marc Reshovsky
Editor
John Carter
Original Music
Christopher Young
Production Design
Robb Wilson King
90s, Baby!
Ten years. 11 weeks. 90 films from the 1990s. This summer, 90’s Baby! takes a deep dive into a defining decade of cinema.
Lessons of Darkness
Werner Herzog's unforgettable documentary reveals the unfolding disaster of the Kuwaitian oil fields in flames in 1991 as a sweeping inferno of mesmerizing power.
Beau Travail
Inspired by Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Claire Denis' transfixing Beau Travail is set in East Africa. Sgt Galoup (Denis Lavant) reflects on his time in the French Foreign Legion, and the impact of the handsome Sentain (Gregoire Colin).
Three Kings
George Clooney headlines David O Russell's bold, brazen attempt to get to grips with the immediate aftermath of Operation Desert Storm, as 4 US soldiers try to liberate a missing shipment of gold amidst the chaos and carnage.
But I'm a Cheerleader
Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is the perfect All-American Girl, or so she thinks. That is until she’s shipped off to conversion therapy. This pitch black comedy is wrapped in a saccharine bow, featuring the icon herself, RuPaul, as a conversion counsellor.
Magnolia
This deeply personal 1999 California opus is ripe for rediscovery. Mapping the emotional traumas of half-a-dozen major characters as they crisscross the San Fernando Valley in search of either recognition or reconciliation, it's PTA's riskiest gamble.
Election
Tracy Flick (Reece Witherspoon) is running for Student President, but Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick) has other ideas... This remarkably sour millennial comedy from Alexander Payne (The Holdovers; Sideways; The Descendents) hits twice as hard today.
Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai
Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is an assassin, but he's also an existential loner who adheres to his personal code. Despite the thriller trappings, this is really a lampoon of that genre, and a melancholy reverie for the cultural melting pot we call home.
The Straight Story
David Lynch goes a different direction in this linear Midwestern about a septuagenarian (Richard Farnsworth) who drives nearly 400km on a lawnmower to visit his ailing brother (Harry Dean Stanton).
90s Surprise Film
The 90s movie we have all been missing... Join us for a celebratory wake for this year's 90s, Baby series! What you will be seeing is top secret (no, not Top Secret!, that was 1984) but it will be at least 26 years old and it will be new to this series.
The Wind Will Carry Us
Kiarostami's dry comic masterpiece follows a Tehrani film team's thwarted attempts to document a traditional Kurdish funeral... Trouble being, there's no one to bury, and, worse, virtually no cell service...
Fight Club
1999 was a very good year for movies, but nothing captured millennial angst quite so vividly as David Fincher's bruising black comedy about what it means to be a man today. This modern classic does everything short of rattling your seat to get a reaction.