Set It Off

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

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