Set It Off (2009)

Four Black women struggling with trying to keep afloat and fighting off the biting sharks of poverty: One a single mother, another a single woman raising her only sibling: a brother, another who was wrongfully terminated from her position as a bank teller after a robbery-gone-bad, and another just fed up with her position working for Luther, the foul-mouthed owner of his own janitorial company. For each of their own individual reason, they all band together and decide to pull their own bank heist. Disguised in wigs and clear masks, they coolly and calmly walk into banks and demand money. To make matters more complicated, Stoney {Pinkett} meets and begins to fall for a branch manager played by Blair Underwood. While working for Luther, the discover he runs out with their money, and now they have to "hit" the bank one more time. With the police hot on their trail, the ill-conceived robberies fly out of control. This movie is filled with emotion, honesty, and a tragic ending. Guest appearances by Dr Dre as Black Sam and Dub-C as one of the bank robbers. This movie is a real crowd pleaser!!!

F. Gary Gray is one of the most talented directors today (not black directors, but director, period!) A film major, I look forward to the day I meet him.

I can't watch this movie when I am down, because it will make me think life just ain't worth living. It has a very very depressing ending. But overall, the narrative was excellent. Each one of the girls had a motive, whether it was directly indicated or not. Black intellects trash this movie because they see it as trapping African Americans in the Boyz N the Hood genre (which was also an excellent film). But they fail to see there are so many stories within the inner cities of African Americans. It is not just about robbing banks, gangs, or drugs, it is out survival, loyalty and frienship. Which I think mainstream America really does not understand and why I think so many black women go to jail for protecting their men involved in illegal activities.

Not to veer off the subject, but set it off is about loyalty and true friendship, (just like waiting to exhale, just a different neighborhood) with a fresh twist. Hats off to F. Gary Gray!

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The issue with the story is that greed is bad. It's also a story about love, a universal subject. There are two different types of love here: heterosexual and homosexual, which is great because people should be true to themselves not just so they'll sleep well at nights, but so that they'll attract people who'll love them the way they are. I love that Blair Underwood and Jada Pinket-Smith have great chemistry. It's so beautiful to watch. I love that they talk about trying different delicacies, which is great because diversity is a great thing. I also love that they talk about their accomplishments because we should all have positive goals. Queen Latifah's character and her partner were great together. I took out a star because a major theme of the film is about robbing banks, which is a very bad idea. It's also a film about stereotyping people, which is a bad thing to do. So in a nutshell, diversity is amazing, different types of love are amazing, stereotyping people is wrong and don't rob banks.

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A great movie with a great cast, this movie shows what can happen when you push a black woman to her last straw. From the beginning to the end this movie shows how easily one can be profiled as a criminal just by the company she keeps. Like how one of the characters were surrounded and killed by the SWAT team just because he had the same hair cut as one of the bank robbers. And he was a soon-to-be college student. There is a lot of emotions shown in this movie when the it takes you into each characters personal life and thier reasons for robbing the bank. Don't get me wrong there are no reasons for committing a crime like a bank robbery but their stories are compelling. The ending is sad, even though there was a bright side to the ending. It kind've teaches you a lesson about friendship and material things.

The acting was fantastic, you almost felt like the characters were real individuals(of course that is the point of acting). Queen, Jada, Kimberly, and Vivic really make this movie come to life. I would watch this movie all day everyday, just because it's so great.

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The is the best movie I have ever seen dealing with the following themes: Friendship, Loyalty and Trust. Even though the movie is about crime, these themes dominate the plot. The girls' commitment to each other and loyalty to their cause is very impressive. Also the director of the movie deals with these themes in a easy, playful and humourous manner, even though the girls' couse is a risky and dangerous one. This keeps the audience interested. There is no dull moment or lousy scene in this movie.

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