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27 of 29 found the following review helpful:
 Jada,Vivica,Kimberly and Queen set this thing off!!Sep 20, 2001
By I. Allison
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!!!
19 of 22 found the following review helpful:
 DISTURBING BUT POWERFULOct 19, 2000
By D. Lewis
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!
7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
This movie is positivly THE movie of the '90s!Jul 07, 1999
I thought that the movie would be another 'Waiting to Exhale' and a friend of mine said to me "This movie is great, you have to watch it!" I thought that I would give it a try. Watching it one night the movie made such an impact on me that I was crying from almost the begining credits. I think that the charactors are ones that people can identify with and feel sorry for... I especially thought that Jada Pinkett Smith played her role with brillience and Queen LaTefa played her role stunningly. I was quite moved by Cleo, she had real class. All in all a great movie... a must for all people with hearts!!
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Entertaining, but definitely no classicJun 23, 2011
By nom-de-nick
"nom-de-nick"
Saw this for the 3rd time recently, and while it's entertaining, it's hardly an essential film. Props to Queen Latifah and Viveca Fox for some really effective acting, and for an original premise. Unfortnately, it tends to go somewhat -- not totally -- downhill from there. It holds your interest, but you have to suspend disbelief and have some tolerance. For one, Elise and Pinkett are major weak links in the characters; their acting is uncompelling, hammy, and often scenery-chewing. Jada Pinkett is simply not a good actress; she's mediocre, and her performances, while adequate, are never standouts. The plot was completely predictable, as was the ending, and the sub-plot of Stoney's romance was particularly unbelievable; 2 people from those backgrounds would never hook up in real life. The Godfather scene was particularly lame. Sorry, but it was. There were some touches of realism, but not enough to elevate the movie from the cliche. Not a worthless film by any means, but again, no classic. A slightly better-than-average action flick.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
The Best Movie I've ever seenOct 22, 2007
By M. Erilus
"Mickey1989"
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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