Set It Off

The sophomore film effort from music video director F. Gary Gray, Set It Off is a crime thriller about four women bank robbers from a housing project in L.A. 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 ...more

The Hollywood crime drama Set It Off effectively uses the various injustices suffered by black women in the inner city as motivation toward a life of crime. The main asset here is that it's a rare instance of black women screenwriters (Takashi Bufford and Kate Lanier) writing for a cast of black women actresses. In contrast to the showy action scenes and the slick production design, the individual hardships and financial problems of the four women are realistic and believable. In an early scene, ...more