Heist films are a subgenre dominated by men. Often suited and booted a la Ocean’s 11 (2001) and Reservoir Dogs. Frequently involving professional guys “doing the work”. Films such as those of Micheal Mann for instance. So often, women feel like they’re on the genre’s periphery. It’s not like they’re not involved. Quentin Tarantino’s most mature movie is Jackie Brown (1997). Harmony Korine happily dabbled with female-led heists in the hyper-saturated Spring Breakers (2013). Meanwhile, Steve McQueen’s muscular Widows (2018) is a film that feels somewhat overlooked. However, when you think of heist movies the genre is prominently male.
One of the most notable female-driven heist movies is perhaps one of the best examples of the genre in the 90s. F Gary Grey’s Set It Off was rejected by New Line Cinema 3 times before it was greenlit. Executives believed black males would baulk at the idea of a film which had a group of Black, gun-toting females in the forefront. Soon after people came to their senses, Set it Off was made on a budget of $9 million and grossed $41 Million at the box office. This was back in the days when movie budgets were far more reasonable. The film became New Line’s biggest hit of 1996. Opening the doors for much of the movie’s cast and director. To quote the late, great William Goldman: “Nobody knows anything”.
With America fully masking off it is safe to reuse the old cliché: You couldn’t make anything like this now. Set it Off scores off the Republican bingo card in terms of its representation and politics. Ben Shapiro would quite simply lose his mind. While a possibly amusing sight to consider it would also be a shame. The dynamics that would make the gish galloping broadcaster plotz, are the same things which make Set it Off worth watching.
After losing her job as a Bank Teller after a violent robbery, Frankie (Vivica A Fox) lands a menial job at a janitorial service with her three longstanding friends: Single mother Tisean (Kimberley Elise), rowdy and belligerent lesbian Cleo (Queen Latifah); and Stony (Jada Pinkett Smith), who is grieving from the recent loss of her younger brother. The foursome’s financial situations are in a crisis, with desperation leading Frankie to persuade the group that performing armed robberies is the perfect way for them to get enough money to push on with their lives and possibly escape the grim realities of their southern L.A. neighbourhood.
One of the greatest strengths of Tarantino’s early work also became an albatross for much of film in general. Reservoir Dogs (1992) revels in its post-modernism. So much so that other genre movies of the nineties seemed to only trade in their sense of irony. When Tarantino's Jackie Brown hit theatres, a sense of frustration could be felt that Quentin had moved on from his familiar bag of tricks. Jackie Brown was *about* something. And it never seemed to be winking. The same goes for Set it Off, a mainstream heist movie, laced with sociopolitical themes built organically within the narrative. The film drops messages throughout the film. But nothing said feels like shouting. It's a subtle unsubtly that has four struggling black women, a minority group that Hollywood rarely has time for. Dealing with living on the breadline, single parenting, homosexuality and female companionship, while wrapped in golden Sunkissed visuals, and blockbuster action sequences. Set it Off is constructed as well as any piece of 90s genre work. Often better than many. But the unironic, and plausible realities that the women face within the narrative, give it an edge.
F Gary Grey has had a solid mainstream career as a director. With a filmography ranging from still amusing, black slacker comedy Friday (1995), to the brawny musical biopic Straight Outta Compton (2015). His filmmaking allows characters to have actual character. Grey knows how to breathe life into the people and world on screen. The opening bank heist sequence scores high in its energy and violence. But Grey peppers memorable notes from minor aspects. With elements such as extras who say little but have their story etched on their faces. The focus of the scene is on Fox’s Frankie whose actions propel the narrative, yet Grey ensures that the ill-fated victims of the robbery have their place. At one point a customer catches the eye early on with the slightly haughty way they hold themselves. Making their departure more shocking. The small inhalation of breath from a security guard, not only highlights his anxiety but also foreshadows his fate. These tiny moments build a scene in a way lesser film could easily dismiss. To rag on how modern movies operate is low-hanging fruit. However, a fair few movies now tend to ignore the surrounding world the protagonists inhabit. Set it Off negates this by having a plausible world where people have their moments.
Grey is drawn to strong ensemble casts. Set it Off is no exception. The main cast is one of the things that brings the film together. Screenwriter Takashi Bufford told Blackfilm in 2011 that he had written the screenplay for Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah. Smith was known for her role as Lena James in the sitcom A Different World. Latifah, a known quantity from her rap career, leapt into acting with small roles in sitcoms and movies such as House Party 2 (1991). Interestingly, Jada Pinkett Smith had sights on Queen Latifah’s boisterous role of Celo before Grey turned her on to the role of Stony, the heart and soul of the film. Vivica A Fox performed in a range of primetime fare and had just come off a supporting role as Will Smith’s stripper girlfriend in Independence Day (1994). Though an element of luck, Fox got the role after Rosie Perez dropped out. Kimberly Elise made her screen debut in the film as the impressionable T.T. Even mixed reviews of Set it Off didn’t deny the chemistry and camaraderie of the four women on screen. These four girls feel like they’ve been a lifelong group of friends, it brings a different energy and dynamic to the typical heist movie. There are less troublesome concerns about misplaced loyalties. The interaction among the four is one of the film’s biggest strengths, particularly when it gets caught in some of the trappings of the genre.
The performances from the main cast have me questioning the ridiculous notion placed forth by the studio executives. Did they honestly believe that Black Men wouldn’t dig this? While the cast broke through and moved on to various projects after Set it Off. Arguably larger projects. They rarely produce turns as enjoyable as they do here. Vivica A. Fox shows a ruthlessness that she never brings again until her turn Kill Bill (2003). Kimberly Elise does well with the “naïve” role that appears in many heist films of its type. For an on-screen debut, she shows very little inexperience. Larger plaudits go out to Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith who play the id and superego of the group respectively. Latifah’s performance as a black lesbian is incredibly eye-catching due to being so well-rounded. Jada Pinkett Smith, who highlighted her flexibility in many roles in the 90s and early 00s comes through with a performance that perhaps shows her versatility best in Stony. At first, Smith comes across like the girl next door before growing into something different entirely. Films like Set it Off have me asking why Jada wasn’t showcased in more projects. It had me wanting to dive into more movies of hers I haven't seen, instead of just rewatching Woo (1998) and Bamboozled (2000).
The vibrant cast bonds well with Grey’s assured filmmaking. The director, only 26 at the time, throws everything he can into the film. Often for the better. One can argue that the film is overstuffed. Grey packs everything he can into the film to give it relevance and weight. The bittersweet backstories of Stony and TT alone could make full plots for other features. There’s a feeling that the cast and crew are getting away with something here. Something that won’t be attempted too soon after. Therefore, Set it Off is filled with scenes illustrating gender, class, and racial struggle. Credit should be given to Grey’s use of form to establish this. The scene of the four women, smoking weed and bringing the world to rights is often highlighted, with the girls lamenting the now defunct factory that would have supplied all of them a living wage. However, the film never rests on its laurels with these themes. When Stony visits the home of Keith, her new boyfriend who just so happens to work high up in a bank the group have been casing, a chill of isolation can be felt. Grey forms this with simple wide framing to contrast Stony’s estrangement with Keith’s material world. “It’s not much” he claims dismissively but it’s more than Stony has ever had.
Grey balances this with well-staged, punchy action sequences that are rich in their use of form. There’s a notable difference between the women’s haphazard first heist. The scene is full of jerky, frantic handheld camerawork. In comparison, once the girls know what they’re doing the heists become smoother, more orchestrated affairs. It’s easy to romanticise the filmmaking of yesteryear, but there’s something to be said about Set it Off’s love of push-ins and slow motion to punctuate moments of expression. Or how the film’s angles get more canted as the story intensifies later. It’s a movie in which the filmmaking feels motivated, making it hard not to feed off the energy.
There’s something to be said about the levity of Set it Off compared to more male-orientated crime features. Set it Off still manages to deal with weighty “hood” subjects. Yet by shifting the dynamics to four black women who love each other, the film struts with a different energy. Its story isn’t out of the ordinary, yet Set it Off has these women share the screen in a way that sets it apart from other crime films. No longer is there a scene in a dark strip club with men gazing vacuously at female eye candy. Set it Off is more than happy to highlight female desires and sexuality. It is worth noting the film’s lesbian representation and how easily it’s normalised. Again, Ben Shapiro would lose his mind. In addition, many crime films have men with loyalties as the pinnacle of fragility. Set it Off views the women’s relationship with each other as a core strength. Granted this is a movie with a particular finish. Yet it is worth seeing that the strong bonds of the women don't bring them down. The film positions itself as opposed to the frantic paranoia loaded in other films of this nature.
Recently a sequel to Set it Off has been considered. One of my favourite L.A. crushes, Issa Rae, has been attached to the production. However, this idea looks based that feels based on fuzzy-headed nostalgia and needless mining of intellectual properties. Such laziness once again neglects how many view movies. Set it off doesn’t reside in a vacuum. Nor does it hold the connective tissue to create a second story worth engaging in. Much like the girls in the movie, Set it Off had one shot to move fast and make it big and it took it with aplomb. Leaving Hollywood to learn the wrong lessons that such a movie brings. But isn’t that often the way?
Set it Off can be found on Amazon Video
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